Their Rise to Become Heroes (Story Rewritten Sorry)
by Phanzuru
Summary: They say heroes always began with a tragic past. A past that influenced their lives to become greater than others in the world. With that past, they tread the world to make sure that the world becomes a better place. If that is so, then when do the nobody's become heroes? Jaune, left by his friends, will befriend a lost demi-human, who has nowhere else to go. AU, so don't hurt me.
1. Our Fate

"Raphtalia, there's so much about the world that you don't know about. Let's say people for an example. For every bad person you meet, there will always be a good person. For every good person you meet, there will always be someone bad." Raphtalia nodded her head, understanding her father's weird logic of people.

"Father, what if there was someone out there who wants to be rid of the bad people?" Her father rubbed his chin.

"Then that person, is a hero."

"A hero?" Raphtalia's head tilted to the side in confusion. Her mother, who was holding her in her lap, giggled.

"Yes, a hero. You know, Raphtalia, I thought of your father as a hero when we first met." Raphtalia looked back at her mother with sparkling eyes.

"Really!? Was he a cool hero!? Did he beat every single bad guy!?" Her father was nervously laughing while scratching the back of his head.

"Not exactly. He was wasn't doing of the sort at all. He was more like a savior than a hero."

"Honey, that's because you were all mopey when it came to talking to others."

"I don't have the slightest clue of what you're talking about, dear." She smiled at him. But to him, that smile meant something bad for him.

"If he didn't beat up bad guys, then why did you call him a hero then?"

"Because, Raphtalia, just because you defeat bad people, it doesn't make the better person."

"It doesn't? Then what does it mean to be a hero?"

"To save first, or to fight the bad guys first. Which one of these choices suits best for a hero?" She pouted at her mother. Testing is not really her strong suit.

"Um… fighting the bad guys?" Her mother shook her head and smiled.

"Incorrect. The first priority is to worry about the innocent lives first. Saving the innocent comes first, then you handle the bad guys."

"I… think I get it! Save the innocent first and then fight bad guys!" Her mother giggled again.

"Well, if you can't handle the bad guys, then worrying about your life, along with others comes first then as well." Her father said.

"When I grow up, I'll be the strongest hero ever! I'll save everyone, and beat every single person that harms my friends!" Her father laughed loudly at her.

"That's the spirit! No doubt, you'll be the best hero that saves everyone, Raphtalia!" Her father started to rub her hair, proud of the enthusiasm that his daughter showed.

"Honey…" Her mother called out her father in a tone that started to make Raphtalia worried. Her mother was standing near their houses window, motioning him to come see what sees.

"...I see. So it's time…." Raphtalia was starting to get nervous. What was going on?

"Raphtalia, we're leaving the house." This was the first time Raphtalia saw her mother in such as frightened state. This only made Raphtalia even more scared.

She was scared…

"B-But, why? Is there something going-"

"Raphtalia, listen to your mother. We have to get going… now!" Raphtalia's ears twitched when she heard her father's demand.

"O-Okay…"

"Honey, remember to take "them" with you!" Her father nodded, as he disappeared from Raphtalia's sight to acquire what "them" was. Soon after he came back, the family left the house.

"Raphtalia, keep running! Don't look back!" Raphtalia didn't know what was going on, but she kept running. She was scared. Her hand tightened as she held onto her mother's hand. The sky….it was the same beautiful blue sky she remembers….

Why… why was the sky red?

No, why was this happening in the first place?

"Raphtalia, sweetie, don't ever let go of my hand. Be strong. We'll all make it out of this, do you hear me?" Raphtalia nodded her head. She was still scared, but she had to be strong. She had to be strong, for her parents sake.

However, as they continued to run, they found themselves at a cliffside. There was nowhere else to go. There was no one that was going to save them from their end. The waves were crashing against the cliff side. All that was left, was the waves.

There was no hero…

"Raphtalia, stay behind us!" Her father moved Raphtalia behind him and her mother.

"F-Fa-" Growling… the sound of growling had managed to quiet her.

A three head dog-like creature had met her sights. It was huge… bigger than her mother, and bigger than her father. Saliva came from the creature's mouth. Ready to kill, and ready to feast on the flesh in front of it.

"M-Mother, I'm scared!"

"..." Her mother didn't say anything when she looked back at her. She only held onto a smile that was meant to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.

"Raphtalia… please, you have to continue living…" What was her mother going to do? Why was she saying this to her?

"W-What? What about-"

"Don't worry about us, sweetie. It's more important to have you continue to live."

"No! I want us all to continue to live! I want the entire family to keep living!" Tears started to soak her eyes. Her mother continued to smile at her. The creature continued to walk towards them.

"Raphtalia, here." Her father had given her something long that was covered in cloth, a book, and a egg. She hasn't seen these items before, but she still held onto them.

"Never let go of them. The lord gave us these items in case of an dire situation such as this, but… we are unable to use them. And make sure that the egg is safe too. It was said to bring great luck to us all. We hope that one day, you'll be the one to use them." Raphtalia couldn't manage to say anything. Her fear was starting to take over her. She could only nod her head as the tears continued to run down her face.

"You're 16 years old Raphtalia. As you continue to grow, you will start to see the world more different than now. Remember to always look ahead of you with your head hung high."

"Sweetie, remember that we love you. Live, so you could be the hero that saves everyone. Please, make sure that no one else experience the same pain as you. We'll be watching over you." With her final words, Raphtalia felt herself be pushed back.

Pushed into the terror of the sea….

As she fell into the sea, she could see her parents looking down at her with genuine smiles…

Until they were replaced with red that covered her vision.

"Nooooooo!" Raphtalia screamed as she continued to fall down to her demise. Falling into the water, she held onto the items that her father had given her. It was the only thing she had to remember them. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the warmth of the blue sea surround her body.

The sea was a light that wanted to comfort her….

But there was no one that could save her. She opened her eyes to see the sparking sun looking down at her. It looked pretty to her.

Wait… the sun? Why was the sun there? She didn't see the sun when she was falling, so why was it there?

It didn't matter…

She was slowly being pulled down into the warm ocean. Nothing mattered now. Her parents were gone, and she had nothing to live for. She gave up, and let the ocean take all of the feelings she kept inside away.

But not until she felt someone her arm pull her up…

* * *

"I'm sorry Jaune, I don't think it's working between the two of us." Ruby, who had been going out with me for two months, had said this. We were currently outside Beacon Academy, at the front entrance.

"It's alright, I hope that you find someone else that will keep you happy." I smiled at her. I was happy that Ruby was going to break up with me, to find someone else that could make her happy.

_I was happy after all…_

"Y-Yeah…. Thank you for all that you've done Jaune. I'll… see you around, Jaune." After exchanging hugs with one another, Ruby left me.

That was a lie wasn't it?

No one talked to me after my transcripts were revealed by Cardin…

My friends… didn't want to be friends anymore...

They left me…

They didn't want me anymore….

They gave up on me…

The transcripts didn't do the damage. It was the attempts to help me learn how to fight. Weiss wasn't fond of the idea of teaching someone who didn't have any experience in fighting anything. But the rest of her team was though. And my team was already liking the idea as we continued to plan it.

So we spent days, weeks, and a month to get me better than I already was.

But I was hopeless…

I would always fail at the simplest things…

Then, they didn't want to teach me anymore...

They didn't want to speak to me anymore….

Because I was a failure….

"Mr. Arc, may I ask what you seem to be doing out here at this time? You have classes to attend don't you?" A familiar voice had broke me out of my thoughts.

"H-Headmaster Ozpin! P-Please, don't scare me like that!" Ozpin started to sip on some of his coffee. When would there be a day where I don't see him without any coffee?

"Mr. Arc, I asked you a question. Please do not ignore what I am asking you."

"I… I just broke up with my girlfriend." I chose to be honest this time. There wouldn't be any point on hiding anything from him.

"You're being honest. That is something I did not expect from you."

"There wouldn't be any point on hiding anything from you. You already know what's happening to me..."

" ."

"Yes?"

"Your eyes are hollow…" My eyes were… hollow? Why would they even be hollow to begin with?

"R-Really? I must've not got any sleep yesterday." Ozpin continued to look at me. I don't know what he's thinking, but I could tell that it was going to be something along the lines of "then you should be sleeping at a expected time, ."

" ."

"Yes?" I'm already prepared for his next words. He's going to lecture me, and tell me to get to class….

Where the bullying continues…

"Take the week off."

"Yes, Headmaster Ozpin. I'll be heading to class now…" Sulking about it wouldn't do that much for me. If only I had a day off or something. I don't want to be anywhere near this place for now.

"Mr. Arc, why are you heading to class?" I looked at him as if he was stupid. His calm demeanor wasn't budging in the slightest.

"Because that's what you told me to do. I might not like my classmates, but I guess I have to deal with it."

"I told you to take the week off, ." He did? Now I'm the one who's looking stupid.

"R-Really? B-But why?" At this, he sipped his coffee for a second before responding.

"You're never honest when it comes to questions about yourself. You hide your feelings deep down in your heart, and hope that someone would notice that something was wrong with you. Take the week off Mr. Arc. You need the time after all." How much does he know about me? I could call him a stalker, but saying something so rude to the person who gave me another chance at this school would be bad.

"I-I see. Thank you for the time off." Walking away from him, I went to my next destination…

The Docks.

* * *

Wearing my hoodie over my head, I didn't want to bring attention to myself. I don't know if the people in Vale know about my fake transcripts, but I won't be taking that chance.

Rushing past the citizens, I wanted to visit a place that allowed me to cool my head off. And that place, was the docks. Just looking at the calm sea in front of me puts my head at ease. Ever since my transcripts had been revealed, I decided to visit this place often.

Finally reaching the docks, I sat down at the edge of the platform. The sea was really beautiful. The waves calmly glide past one another. It was calming to me. It was like the water was talking to me. Telling me that everything was going to be fine.

And so, I gently closed my eyes. I wanted to hear the sounds of the water splashing to calm me even more.

*Splish*

*Splash*

*Splish*

*Splash*

*Splish*

*Splash*

"_Noooooo!"_ Hearing a female's scream, my eyes jolted open. That scream…. it sounded close. Too close to my demise. As I got up and looked around the area, I found out that there was nothing wrong here.

"Wh-What? Th-There's no one here…" It was only me, and the waves. There was no one else around that was close to me to make such a frightened scream.

"_Nooooo!"_ There it is again! I looked around... to find nothing again. Where were the screams coming from?

Wait…. don't tell me.

Looking at the water, I saw something that was not meant to be there….

A glowing light…

"What the…" The light seemed to be glistering more and more by the second. What was going on in the water? Should I… check it out? No, only a fool would jump in. But what if there was actually something down there?

"I guess I'm the fool as always then." Jumping into the water, I starting to swim towards the bright light in the water. Whatever it was, it seemed to be coming from below the water's surface. Swimming downwards, I noticed something…

It was a girl…

And... she was unconscious !

Without any hesitation, I started to pick up my pace to go save the girl. Was she trying to die? Or did she do something stupid that led her up to this point?

Grabbing her arm, I started to swim back up to the surface. I hope I wasn't too late. I can't live with the fact that someone had almost managed to kill themselves. Whichever choice it was, I shouldn't be talking.

With my experience, I should be the one who should be wishing to die….


	2. Jaune, Meet Raphtalia

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* The sounds of coughing had made me felt relieved. Luckily, she didn't have too much water in her lungs. If I hesitated a little more, then her death would be my fault.

"Are... are you okay?" She coughed for a few more seconds before nodding her head for my confirmation.

"Th-Thank you for saving me."

"It was no problem…." We sat there, drenched in water, until someone had the guts to say something. I'm guessing that she's just shy. Because of this awkward situation, I couldn't think of anything to say.

So we continued to sit there…

"Hey,um…" We both said simultaneously. Talk about awkward…

"You first."

"I-I think you should go first."

"Ladies always go first."

"...Okay. Can… you explain why the sky had turned into a different color earlier? And why there was monsters attacking my village?" What did she mean by "a different color?" The sky was blue, and it was always blue. Plus, did she say that there were monsters attacking her village?

"Slow down a second. I haven't seen the sky turn into a different color at all. And what village are you-"

"N-No, I saw the sky turn into a red type of color! I... I was running away with… Mother? Father? Wh-Where are you!? You can't leave me alone!" I think that there was something wrong with her. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I seriously think that she's having some sort of trauma. Scooting close to her, I tried to put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down, but-

*Slap!*

"Get away from me! You killed Father and Mother!" She slapped my hand away the moment I touched her. Someone-no,_something_ had called her parents in cold blood if she was acting this paranoid. And I don't think that this happened hours ago. This had been recent. But based on her explanation, it had been a monster that killed them. Then the question is:

_Did the Grimm attack her village? If so, then when and where?_

"C-Calm down. I'm not trying to hurt you." Realizing what she had done, she breathed in and out. Now that I realize it, her head… she was a faunus. And by the looks of it, she looked to be a raccoon of some sort. The ears and puffy tail, regardless of them being wet, it was a huge giveaway.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have done something without your consent."

"...Okay." I smiled at her. While she looked around my age, she still had to face something that was out of her control. It would be better to not talk about this situation at this time. We were wet, and she is still shaken by her trauma.

"I… think we should get some place to stay at for now. We're not going to dry off in the sun's heat, you know." I tried to lighten the mood up a bit with a lame joke, but she didn't laugh. She looked at the ground in front of her…

_With hollowed eyes..._

"What's that on the ground?" Before leading her to a place to get warm, I noticed something that was wrapped in cloth on the ground.

"That's-!" Noticing the cloth on the ground, she quickly sprang to the floor to pick it up.

"...Sorry. It was the last thing my Father gave to me before he-"

"Hey, it's okay. It'll be better to talk inside a room with a cup of Hot Chocolate." She still didn't laugh at my corny jokes. I think I should just stop trying to be lame with the jokes.

"...Okay." And before we left again, I gave her my hoodie. Even if it was soaked in water, she needed to hide her…. "features."

"...What's this for?" She asked me as she looked at my hoodie.

"It's for your… "features."

"My… "features?"

"I-I'm not talking about your body! I-I'm talking about your ears and tail! You know, not that many people are fond of Faunus, so it'll be best to hide them until we get to a safe place."

"...Faunus? I'm a demi-human." Huh? What's a demi-human? Is that a term that comes from her village? Either way, I shouldn't bother her with anything else until we get cleaned.

* * *

As we walked down several streets, I couldn't help but notice the stares that were being drawn towards me. Do they know about my transcripts? Or are they just concerned that I'm drenched in water right now?

"Where are we going?" With my hoodie on, she asks me our next location.

"We're making a stop at an hotel."

"What's a hotel?"

"..." I'm guessing that she doesn't know about city things because she grew up in a village.

"It's a place where people can spend the day and night at, instead of an house."

"...Okay." I'm hoping that after talking with her, she could cheer up a bit. I know witnessing your parents die in front of you is traumatic, but-no, I should let her have all the time she needs.

As we continued to walk towards the hotel, I noticed that she was looking a bit drowsy. Yeah, we should probably pick up the pace. I don't want her passing out in the middle of the street on me. So what did I do? I stopped in front of her, and bent down a bit. She only looked at me strangely.

"...What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a piggyback ride…"

"Y-You don't have to. I'm perfectly-"

"Hey, it's okay to rely on others a bit." She seemed uncertain for a bit, until she climbed onto my back. Lifting her up, I continued to walk towards the hotel.

"You doing alright?" Seeing the hotel as we got closer to it, I asked to see if she was holding up alright. She might get a cold if I don't get her something warm.

"I'm… alright." She sounded even more drowsy.

"Hey, if you want to take a nap, then go ahead. I'll wake you up when we get there."

"Are… you sure? I… don't…want to be a bother."

"If you think I'll be bothered by your drooling, then don't worry about it. A little drool won't harm me."

"...Thank you." With that said, she fell asleep on my back. I should be careful with how I walk from now on. I don't want to interrupt her sleep now.

* * *

"Hey, you can wake up now." Getting the room for two, I tried to wake her up as I carried her to the room.

"...H-Huh?"

"We're here. Did you enjoy your nap?" She nodded as she got off of my back. I didn't notice it, but her tail had been wrapped around my stomach the entire time. Her tail must be really fluffy for me to not notice that.

As we entered the room, she couldn't help but be amazed. It was like this was the first time she had ever visit a room that was this fancy. Well, judging by her reaction, this really was her first time.

"What's this?" She pointed at the television that was on the wall.

"That's a TV. It shows what you want to watch on the screen. Here, I'll show you." Grabbing the remote, I turned on the TV.

"Wow!" Looking at the TV, she was easily pleased. I was glad that it showed a cartoon instead of anything else. This could be her first time watching TV so I think it would be best for her to continue to watch it.

"Hey, I'll go take a bath, so don't go anywhere else okay?" She didn't respond as she continued to watch the cartoon. She must really like it. Well, if it takes her mind away from everything, then I'm happy.

Turning on the hot water, I let it sit there until the bathtub was close to full. After taking my clothes off, I set them away. Since the walk was long, my clothes seemed to be close to being dried. It was wet at some places, but I guess it's better than nothing. Turning off the hot water, I stepped into the bath.

So much has happened from these past months and I think I really needed this bath. I could just soothe into the water and let my thoughts wander away.

Just let my thoughts wander away…

_Drip _

_Drop _

_Drip _

_Drop _

'_Why are you all wasting your time with him!? He's not fit to be a huntsman, so just let him leave already!' _

_Drip _

_Drop _

'_Jaune, I think it'll be best if you… stop trying to be a huntsman. Please, listen to your partner…' _

_Drip _

_Drop _

_Drip _

_Drop _

'_Sorry Vomit Boy, maybe looking for another career for something you're good would be best…' _

_Drip _

_Drop _

_Drip _

_Drop _

_Drip _

_Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop Give Up Drip Drop Drip Drop Drip Drop _

'_Jaune… please, just give up…' _

*Crash!*

"Ruby!" I came from out of the water in a hurry. I heard a crash from outside of the room, and quickly wrapped a towel around my waist.

"What happened!" Coming from out of the bathroom, I went to see what had caused the random noise. And what I had been presented with was…

The TV was sliced in half…

And the person who did it… was the girl….

Who was holding a glowing sword in her shaking hands.

"Hey, are you alright!?" I didn't want to provoke her, in which it would only cause her to become more violent against me. So slowly, I walked a bit towards her.

"I-I saw the monster...!" She saw… the monster?

"You saw… the monster? Wait, what monster?"

"I-I pressed a button and it changed into the monster!" I see. So she must've changed the channel to something that showed Grimm being involved. I couldn't blame her though. I should've been more careful with what she should watch.

"It's okay. Just… take it easy."

"...Okay." She looked down at the ground with sadness. I really feel bad for her now. Especially when her ears and tail are being all droopy.

"Go ahead and take a bath right now. The water should still be hot, so enjoy it. After that, dry off and put on my pants and hoodie. Their a bit more dried than your clothes so using mine would be better." I probably sound… "weird" as I'm forcing a girl to where my clothes, but it would be better than wearing nothing else but a towel. She nodded and left to go into the bathroom.

After a few minutes had passed, I was awaited with the girl, whore nothing else but my hoodie and pants. Well, at least they cover all of her "areas." Looking at her face, she was a bit red on the cheeks. Well, it will be a bit awkward for a girl to talk to a guy who was wearing nothing but a bath towel.

"So, I think we should talk now."

"...About me, right?" I nodded my head.

"So, what's your name?"

"It's… Raphtalia." Raphtalia, huh? It sounds weird, but I shouldn't be thinking like this. A name is a name after all.

" Hello Raphtalia, my name is Jaune. Jaune Arc. You said you came from a village. What village are you from, and how close is it to Vale?" She cocked her head to the side. What a weird motion, but I guess I could say that she was simply confused.

"Vale? I never heard of Vale before. And I come from Rurorona Village. A village where demi-humans live at peace." Okay, so there's two things I learned from her.

One, she doesn't know what Vale is, so I'm guessing that her parents haven't told her anything about this place. But that wouldn't make sense. Everyone should know what Vale is. It's a place that shouldn't be hard to notice.

And two, I don't know where her village was. And she also said that demi-humans lived there. So do all kinds of Faunus live there?

"So, demi-humans. Is that a term that you say in your village?" She simply shook her head.

"Demi-humans are humans that have bestial features. For me, I'm part Tanuki. While we have these bestial traits, regular humans don't really appreciate our existence." Her ears drooped again. So the term wasn't different from Faunus then. For now, I'll let it go.

"...And you said that the sky… was a different color. Why was that?"

"I… I don't know either. While I was running away with my… parents from the three headed monster, I noticed that the sky was red." A three headed Grimm! I've never seen that before, so is it some kind of new breed that we haven't heard of!?

"I see. Okay, I think that's enough for today. Raphtalia, I think it would be better to get some rest for now. While it's still a bit in the morning, I think we should just take the day off by taking it easy." I didn't ask about her sword since it would only cause her to get more uncomfortable. That was her parent's last gift so I think I should let it be for now.

"O-Okay." After that being said, she went to the bed to lay down. She's really having a hard time, so it would be best to not bother her for now.

Wait, why was there only one bed!? I thought I asked for a room for…

Ah, great. Now we have to share the bed now. Well, I might just wait until our clothes dry off so we could go shop for more tomorrow. For now, I should just wait for tomorrow to come.

Time to sit back, relax, and enjoy some television. Picking up the remote, I clicked the power button to turn it on. To my suprise, electricity came out of the sliced TV.

I have to pay for that, don't I?


	3. Let's Both Be Heroes

It was morning time now. I'm surprised to see that we were able to sleep the entire day off yesterday. Sleeping on the couch with nothing but a towel was not a good idea. Especially when you move sometimes when you're sleeping. You can get some… weird results. Picking up my towel, I wrapped it around my waist again. I just hope that Raphtalia wasn't awake to say anything "private."

"Zzzzz…" Good, she's still sleeping. I wish I could sleep as peaceful as her. Even when her parents are gone, she can still sleep with a peaceful face.

Passing by her, I decided that it was time to check if her clothes were dried. As I entered the bathroom to check it, I touched all of the areas on the clothes. Good, they were good as new. Plus, I finally get to wear my clothes again.

Hmm, I wonder what I can do right now. I could just wait for Raphtalia to wake up, but I'm capable of getting bored easily. Now that I think about it, that sword that she held onto yesterday….

_It was glowing…_

Was it dust? It probably could've been dust for all I know. But then, I didn't see any form of dust around her. Was it built inside of the sword? If so, then I think I want to see it myself. It'll be a sneak little peak, so it wouldn't hurt...

Would it...?

Walking towards the wrapped cloth, I extended my hand to unwrap it. Raphtalia wouldn't mind if I took a look at it, right? No, I shouldn't. I shouldn't look at things that aren't mine. Especially when they mean so much to her. I can't take advantage of her kindness so easily.

"Father! Mother!" Raphtalia screamed at the top of her lungs, scaring me. I didn't expect it, thinking that she almost caught me touching her things, but when she yelled for her parents, I was relieved.

Wait, I shouldn't be relieved at all! She's having a nightmare right now!

"Raphtalia…" I walked towards the bedside to crouch next to Raphtalia, who was shaking under the covers in fear. I gently touched the top of the covers, to pat her head.

"I'm here, Raphtalia. It'll be okay." I knew it wasn't okay. It doesn't take a sane person to understand that she was suffering. I'm just hoping that this doesn't occur frequently.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, she hugged me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged the life out of me. She really needs this right now. Lending a shoulder wouldn't hurt.

"*Sniff* Kuh... M-Mother….Father…."

"I'm sorry, Raphtalia. I'm really sorry." I couldn't think of anything else to say to her. All I wanted to do was continue to pat her head until she calmed down. I think we should take a stroll outside, and get something that makes her feel better. After all, dealing with seven sisters had made me feel sympathy for crying girls.

"So, Raphtalia, let's go shopping today."

"...Okay." After a few minutes of her crying into my bare chest, she finally calmed down. After that, we got dressed and went outside. Not without paying the owner before leaving. However, I need to find a way to cheer her up. I don't want to always see her down like this, thinking of her parents death constantly.

"Raphtalia, anything you want, I'll go buy for you. How does that sound?"

"...Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden."

"Of course. Don't worry about prices that much. I have a lot on me, so don't hold back, okay?" She silently nodded her head to give me her approval. While I wasn't rich, I had a lot on me. It was going to be time to spend all of my money one day or another.

"So before anything, let's go get you some clothes." While her clothes wasn't fully tattered, I still think we should give her some new clothes. I can't always give her my hoodie when leaving.

"...New clothes?"

"Yes, new clothes. Don't worry, I'm not some kind of pervert. Just tell what you like, try it on, and I'll buy it. Sounds good?"

"...Yes."

And so, we finally arrived at the clothes store. I was hoping that the clothes that she picked out for herself would do something for her mentality a bit. Just going to the clothes store isn't going to get her mind off of her parents.

"So, see anything that you like?" We didn't exactly look around, but I needed to see if something peaked her interest.

"...Nothing."

"Hm, let's keep looking around then."

"...Okay, Jaune-sama." Jaune...sama? What does sama mean? Was is it something that you say to someone else in her village? It doesn't bother me though, if she was alright saying that with no problems, then I should appreciate her resolve.

"So, did you have any friends to shop with in your vil-" Her ears had gone droopy again when I mentioned her friends. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Jaune! She lost her village, friends, and family! So why would you even dare to bring it up!

Before I could lecture myself anymore, I felt my shirt being pulled. Looking at Raphtalia, she pointed at something that had interested her. It was bland, but I guess it was okay.

Besides, this was what she wants, so there's nothing I could say to change her mind.

After changing into her clothes, she came out of the females Faunus dress room. It's a shame that some clothes stores has distinct rooms for Faunus and Humans. While Raphtalia didn't understand it at first, she complied by entering the Faunus side for women. I was just lucky enough to stop her from entering the human side. Seriously, when is this world ever going to understand that everyone is equal?

"H-How does it look?" It wasn't bad looking. Just wearing jeans and a raccoon hoodie was casual enough. Giving my honest opinion wouldn't hurt in the slightest.

"Not bad. It really suits you." She seemed to smile a bit for doing a bit of a twirl, letting me see the outfit from all sides.

"Why the twirl?"

"It…was something that I always did when my parents enjoyed my clothing. It always made me happy when they told me that I looked cute. Was it…a bother?"

"N-No! You having done anything wrong here! I was just confused as to why you were doing it, that's all!"

"...Thank you… for being nice to me all this time." She smiled at me. Somehow, I feel like that smile is really genuine. She's really being strong, isn't she?

_Possibly stronger than me…._

"Anyway, did you get everything you need?"

"Um, are bras included?"

"Everything?"

"...Let's keep looking around then."

"And that we shall."

* * *

"Are you sure that you're okay?" She seemed concerned. Well, any normal person would feel concerned in my situation.

"I-I'm fine. J-Just another day of holding bags and stuff." Yup, she wanted a lot of things. Since I didn't know her age, I could only guess that she was sixteen. A woman has a lot things that they want to buy, don't they? With my sisters, I would've dislocated my arm several times. Thank the heavens that I don't have to deal with their shopping spree again.

"I could help you with those bags." While there was only four bags, two in each on of my hands, I could handle it.

"Nah, I'm good. Remember, anything you want, I'll go buy."

"Thank you…"

"No problem." Before continuing to where we wanted to go next, a ball had stopped right next to Raphtalia's feet. Along with her reaction, I was surprised.

"Hey lady! Pass the ball over to us!" A boy, close to the age of 13, had asked Raphtalia to give the ball back to him. Behind him, was a group of kids close to his age. As she picked it up, she looked like she was in a trance. Before making a decision, she looked back at me.

"Go ahead." Giving her a nod, she rolled the ball back towards the kids.

"Thanks, lady!" Picking up the ball, the kids left our sights to play whatever they were playing before. Raphtalia seemed to be a bit disappointed thought. I wonder what was wrong with her.

"Raphtalia, are you doing okay?" She didn't give me a answer at first, but giving her a few seconds, she decided to speak.

"I… always wanted to play with a ball when I was young. It's a shame that I didn't really have the time to do that."

"What do you mean? You never had the chance to play with a ball when you were young?" I didn't want to mention her parents again. Seeing that it affects her a lot, I had to choose my words carefully.

"It wasn't too serious. My… father didn't want me to slack around too much. He wanted me to practice with a sword ever since I was 10. He said that I had to be "prepared" for the worst. I trained really hard, but I was too afraid to even fight. No, I didn't do anything because I was weak minded about my decisions. I should've had picked up a sword and fight back. Maybe then my village, and even my parents would still be standing." She looked at the floor in sadness.

Weak minded huh? To say such a thing, to blame yourself for loss, and to take the burden upon yourself with all the pain. It was...

"Bullshit." She looked at me with surprised eyes. Has she ever heard of that word before? I hope I don't give her some bad habits.

"Bull… shit?"

"Yes, bullshit. Tell me, did your parents want you to fight that monster?"

"N-No, they wanted me to-"

"Exactly. Even if you did have experience with a weapon, did you ever think that you would make it out alive?"

"I-I… no, I didn't. They sacrificed themselves to save me from it. I was self-taught, but not once had I thought that I was able to take it down. But that's not the point! I stood there and watched my parents fall! I… I could've-" While tears didn't pour from out of her eyes, she looked like she was still in pain.

"But you didn't, right? There's nothing wrong with being a coward. Because sometimes, when your back's against the wall, there's no other choice but to cower in fear. And when you are afraid, you learn to be strong. Your parents… they wanted to make sure that their daughter, who they had spent sixteen years with, to live on. Not with the pain, but with the experience.

"The… experience?"

"Yes, the experience. While to have experience, you need to have pain in your life. While I didn't experience any loss, I still have the experience of sharing the pain with my friend. She might've lost someone important to her, but she still decided to move forward. Yes, she sulked, but is that stopping her today? No. Raphtalia, maybe one day, you will learn to accept the fact your parents wanted to you to live. To live, you grow stronger. Life is packed with a bunch of crumbs. Every bit of crumb that are laid on the plate, you still have to eat those crumbs. Even if you don't like it, each crumb is an obstacle that stands in your way. No matter how small it is, it will always find a way to stay on your plate. Unless you pick up the fork, instead of a spoon, you will never pick up that crumb." She didn't say anything after that. All I could see from her, was her shoulders moving up and down. Was she crying? Crap, I didn't mean to bring up her parents like that.

"Hahahahaha!" Huh? Was she… laughing?

"You're… laughing?"

"Why wouldn't I? You suddenly started to compare life as a bunch of crumbs! And what do you mean pick it up with a fork!? You can still pick up crumbs with your hands and a spoon! Hahahahaha!" Huh, I finally made her laugh. How about that. At least she's acting a whole lot better than normal.

Wait, I made her laugh!

"I'm glad you enjoy my joke. There's more where that came from."

"I look forward to them as well, Jaune-sama." She smiled again. I feel really proud of myself right now. I didn't think I could make someone laugh with that comparison. I was just following the mood, so of course I wasn't paying attention to what I was saying.

"All of this talk about crumbs has made me hungry. What do you say to some nice Jaune-made sandwiches for lunch?" She started giggling. Maybe this talk was what she needed. I'm hoping that after this day, I can continue to make her happy.

"You can cook? I never thought of you for that type."

"Guh! You were already making an impression of me that fast!?"

"At first, I thought that you were some pervert that wanted to take advantage of me."

"Pervert!?"

"I'm joking, Jaune-sama. I thought of you as a kind person. And it turns out that I was right after all. Thank you… for making me feel better." This time, I smiled at her.

"It was no problem. If we were friends, then I'd continue to make you feel better." She cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"If we were friends? Aren't we already friends?" I stood there shocked at her. I… didn't expect that from her.

"We've only met for a day and you consider us as friends?" She nodded her head and smiled again.

"Do you not want to be friends with me?"

"O-Of course! I would love to be friends with you! I was just surprised, that's all!"

"That's good then. Whew, I thought you didn't want to hang out with me anymore." Where was all of this coming from? I… didn't think that she would want to be friends with someone like me. With all that's happened, we were… friends.

Maybe friends was a word that scared me….

"It's just that… maybe in the future, you wouldn't want to be friends with me."

"Did you do something wrong?"

"Yes. Something that had caused me to lose of my friends. I wouldn't blame you if you left me, you know." Raphtalia walked up to me. As she grabbed my hand, she wrapped her hand around the handle of the bag of clothes that I bought. She took two, while I was still carrying the other two.

"Yes, it's true that we've met for only a day. But when I look back at all of the things you've done for me, I can't help but smile! You're a kind person that's really nice to me so I'll walk with you and be your friend until the end of time, Jaune-sama. Iwill lend my assistance whenever it is needed. Whether if it's against the world, or if your previous friends being against you, I will be there to help you along the way. I will be there for you, as your friend. We'll eat the bits of crumbs on the plate together." Now that I'm hearing it from someone else, it does sound funny. After chuckling a bit, I decided to speak again.

"With a fork, right?"

"And I can use the spoon." We both laughed for a couple of minutes. This feeling, it feels good. For over two months, I haven't been able to share a laugh with a friend. Now that I'm sharing one with Raphtalia, I feel like I want to continue to laugh.

Again and again…

Until my voice gave out…

"So, you want to continue shopping?" She pondered for some time before making her decision.

"Hm, I think this should be enough for now. I think we should start going after some monsters." After some… monsters? Wait, is she referring to the Grimm?

"W-Well, let's just wait a bit for now. If you want to practice on some Grimm, then I think we should wait. I don't even have my equipment on me right now."

"Hm, good point. I was kind of hoping for us to gain some experience for us to level up even more." Wait, excuse me, did she just say level up? Was this some kind of game to her? If so, then the Grimm are not to be played with.

"Level up? Are we playing some kind of game right now?" She cocked her head to the side as if I was the one who was crazy.

"You don't see it?"

"See what exactly?"

"Your level. It says that your level 10, while I'm 15. Can you not see it? It should show on the top left of your sight."

What was she talking about?

"Jaune-sama." Hearing her call my name had brought me out of my thoughts.

"Y-Yes?"

"One day, I want to stop of the monsters that attack villages. That way, the children could be happy with no fear in their lives. I want to be a hero. A hero that protects the dreams of the children."

"...Yeah, me too. Let's both be heroes."


	4. Words That Are Sharp As A Sword

"Jaune-sama, may I ask where we are heading to next?" We were on a bullhead that was heading towards…. Beacon Academy. The one place that I didn't want to be at ever since the start of my break. I only have 2 days left before my week-long break comes to an end.

"We're heading to my… school to get my equipment." Raphtalia looked at me for a second before speaking.

"...Your school? Is that… where your friends are?" I nodded my head to show confirmation. I didn't want to show my reluctance of not wanting to go back there, but I think she sees through me.

"Other than your friends, how is the school?" Bringing up a different topic eh? That's… very nice of her. Just like how I wanted her to get her mind off of her parents, she doing the same thing for me.

"It's a really nice school. The teachers help when you're in trouble, and you can train yourself to become a great huntsman. The headmaster was weird, but I think that's just part of his character."

"To become a huntsman?" I nodded again.

"Yeah, when I was young, I always thought about becoming a huntsman. To me, becoming a hero meant becoming a huntsman. My parents, along with my siblings, were heroes. They got a lot of praise when achieving a feat, but that was mostly my siblings. My parents, however, had retired. They trained my sisters to become the best. While they weren't the best, some of them were professionals."

"And what about you? What are you compared to them?"

"I… wasn't anything. I didn't really get the training like my sisters. Instead, I was only there… to be there. No training, no praises, no nothing. I don't remember my past that well, but there's one thing that I remember well. And it had to do something with my parents."

"And what was that?" I took some time to breathe in and out before answering. I wouldn't know what to expect from Raphtalia. Would she be freaked out? Or would she be sympathetic to me?

"They said that I was "too precious." Her response was only cocking her head to the side.

"Too... precious? Are you sure that you're reading too much into this? Maybe they're saying that because of how much they love you." I shook my head slowly. For my parents to say that, it only made me feel concerned about myself. Why would my parents, who were experienced huntsmen, say that about me?

"Maybe, but I can't think of something so trivial too lightly. While they do care about me, I can't help but feel that they're hiding something from me. For the best, or for the worst."

"..." Raphtalia looked outside the window of the bullhead. She must be thinking about my well-being too. At least… it feels good for someone to care about you. It's been a long time since I felt this warmth.

"So, Raphtalia, what was that thing that you were talking about yesterday? You said something about levels and stuff." Mentioning this, she looked back at me with a smile.

"You really can't see it, can you?" She teased.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to tease me for something I can't see." I crossed my arms and pouted my cheeks. I wanted to tease her back with the way she acted.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Yesterday, I said you were level 10, and I was 15. When defeating monsters, you gain experience for your next level." I nodded my head, understanding what she was saying.

"I understand what you're saying, but could you explain to me how you are seeing this?"

"I can't really explain it. It should always be there. I've had seen it ever since I was young. Hm, let me take a look at something." She used her index finger to swipe the air. She really looked like she was looking at something. It's a shame that I couldn't see what she was seeing. I'm just hoping that people aren't looking at us.

But from out of nowhere, something popped up in my face.

_Jaune Arc: _

_Level: 10 _

_Health: 500_

_Strength: 300_

_MP:?_

_Vitality:800_

_EXP until next level: 100_

Um, what exactly was going on here? Why was there a menu in front of my face all of sudden? Did Raphtalia do something to me? And wait, why was my attack lower than my health? Am I some kind of defense character?

"Can you see it now?" I nodded my head to give her my confirmation.

"Good. For some reason, your stats had been hidden. It said that the group leader had to enable the view of stats for group members. It seems that your stats are more into defense, while I'm into attack." So I guess this really was like a game. But why was I defense? I had practiced and practiced to know how to use a sword, but why am I more useful for defense? Had I not learned anything at all?

Looking at my menu, I've something that peaked my interest. Information about Grimm? Wait, so I could learn about some things about the Grimm, without even studying!? How cool was that!?

"Jaune-sama."

"Yes?"

"I think we've arrived at your school." She pointed outside of the window to show me the use castle-like school. Well, I can't say that I'm exactly happy to say this, but I'm really excited to level up now. Hopefully, I'll be able to grow stronger.

"It's really a fascinating place, Jaune-sama!" I chuckled a bit. When she shows this much interest of my school, I couldn't help but laugh.

"While the school looks good, I doubt the students will catch your attention." She looked back at me when I said this.

"Did you say something, Jaune-sama?" She didn't hear me? Now I'm thinking that her ears were all for show.

"I said that some of the students wouldn't catch your attention. What, are those ears all for show?" I wanted her to be prepared for this school. Cardin and his lackeys were more than likely to start something with her since she's a Faunus.

"Hey! While I do have enhanced hearing, that also means that I can hear things from very far away! That also refers to the thing that we're in!" She doesn't even know about bullheads. Man, I have to get her caught up with a lot of things.

Touching Raphtalia. Harming Raphtalia. All of those outcomes seem to make me feel upset. While I do want to stand up for myself, I cannot allow myself to just stand by and let Raphtalia get harmed for my sake. No, Cardin, nor his lackeys would lay a finger on her. They could beat me down for all I care, but if they dared to harm someone that had experienced their parents dying in front of them, I would be the one that they "talk" to.

"Jaune-sama, we've landed! Let's hurry!" She seemed to be excited to be here though. I can't have her being depressed again because of Cardin. He made student Faunus suffer for too long.

"You seem excited…"

"Why wouldn't I be!? I get to visit my friend's school! She… wanted to see my school? That's right. Her friends were gone and she probably didn't have the chance to visit one their schools.

"Raphtalia…" While she was waiting for the door to open, she looked back at me.

"Hm?" I shook my head, not saying what I wanted to say to her.

"Nothing. Let's hurry and get my equipment." She nodded in approval before turning around again. I guess it was time to open the doors huh? While my head started to hurt, pleading that I leave this place at once, I can't neglect. I'll go through with it… for Raphtalia's sake. I won't be pushed to the wall to easily now! I'll eat those bread crumbs with my fork!

_Raphtalia… let's create some happy memories…_

_Together…_

* * *

"Mr. Arc, might I ask what you're doing here for? I'm not displeased, I am simply asking a question. You're off on a break, correct?" Professor Goodwitch… I'm glad she's not having class right now. It would get a lot more complicated if she was. We were lucky enough to visit while the students were having other classes. The hallways were cleared so we quickly rushed to get here.

"S-Sorry, Professor Goodwitch. I was just hoping if I could pick up my equipment and go hunt for some Grimm." At this, she raised her eyebrow.

"Hunt for Grimm? Mr. Arc, what exactly are you planning?"

"I was… just hoping to gain some experience with the Grimm that we could possibly be facing. It wouldn't hurt to learn some things." While I didn't lie, I did tell the truth. I wanted to see what would happen when leveling up, but I can't do that if I'm not hunting for some Grimm.

"Experience with fighting Grimm? Are the lessons we're providing not substantial to your needs?" This was getting harder by the second. While she did trust me a lot, she was really hard to get by.

"N-No! I just wanted to train with some real Grimm!"

"...Very well. Please, do not go too far out there. I better see you unscathed when you return."

"W-Will do, Professor Goodwitch."

"Wait a minute." Before leaving to get my stuff, Professor Goodwitch had stopped me from moving with her demanding voice.

"Y-Yes, Professor Goodwitch?" Her arms were crossed this time. And she also looked very disappointed for some reason.

"Before you leave, could you explain who this young lady is? I don't believe that she's a student that attends this school." Before I could say anything, Raphtalia walked in front of me and bowed.

"Hello, my name is Raphtalia. I'm a friend of Jaune." At least she's showing some respect to her. If she didn't-nevermind, I think her parents taught her better than to be rude to their superiors.

"A friend you say? And how acquainted are you with him?" There she goes with her demanding voice again.

"We've only met two days ago, but with those two days, I learned to trust him for everything that he has done for me. I know that his "experience" being here isn't the greatest, but I promised that I will be staying by his side."

"...Be sure to watch over him. While I don't exactly trust your words, I trust you to keep him safe." Raphtalia showed a serious face all of a sudden.

"I promise to not let any harm to come to him. Anything that happens to him will be on me. Feel free to do anything you want with me if he was harmed in our travels." What was she saying? It will be on her? No, that's not what I want!

"Even if I want you to never be near him again? Even if I wished for you to be sent back to the place you've came from?" Raphtalia flinched when she said this. No, this wasn't right. I know that Professor Goodwitch cares about me, but making her uncomfortable with threats isn't setting the best example for a teacher.

"Wait, hold on a second-"

"Mr. Arc, I am speaking to her. I want to know how much I can trust you in her care. This is for her to decide, not you." I closed my mouth to not speak anything else. While her methods were cruel, all she wanted to know was trust. With everything else that had happened to me, the teachers had been there for me. Especially Professor Goodwitch. She's done so much for me, and I couldn't even hope to repay her. Maybe one day, I'll come up with something for a gift.

"As I said, you may do whatever you want with me if he is harmed. However, the words that I say, are not untrustworthy. If I don't have your trust right now, then let me show you my resolve on the field. I'll protect Jaune-sama with everything I have in my arsenal! That is what I promise to you, and to him!" I was amazed. Did she really want to help me this much? Professor Goodwitch didn't say anything else after that. All she did was just turn away to not face me.

"...Mr. Arc, your equipment is in the back. Be sure to come back safely, do you hear me?" I nodded my head. After that, she left the room. She was like a mother to me. Always concerned as to what could happen to me when I decide on something. We didn't really have this relationship before. But with those two months, I learned that Professor Goodwitch isn't as bad as anyone say she is.

"Raphtalia-" She pressed her finger onto my lips and smiled. Would this be something that she's going to do a lot?

"Don't say anything. I made this decision and I'm going to stick with it. I won't let any harm come you, Jaune-sama. Whether if it was me hurt, as long as you're okay-"

"No! You say that you've made this decision, but what about me!? If you can make a decision, then so can I! From me to you, I promise that I will protect you from harm! With my shield, I'll knock back anyone that harms you!" She stood there shocked for a second, before looking at me in the eyes with a genuine smile.

"If you want to become my shield, then I shall become your sword, Jaune-sama." She pulled out her sword from her cloth that she had been holding for all of this time.

"Let's level up… together…"

"To the highest level to become heroes." We smiled at each other. We vowed to protect each other. That's all we had to do to trust each other.

*Crack!*

"Huh?" Looking at the pouch that Raphtalia wanted yesterday when shopping for equipment, it looked like something was starting to move inside it. What exactly did she bring that made a crack?

"Was that you?" I asked her. She only shook her head as she looked confused as much as I was. So she didn't know what it was?

"I think something is moving in your pouch, Raphtalia"

"Huh? Oh, is it finally time!?" Turns out, she did know what it was. But whatever it was, it was really squirming to get out of there. Opening her pouch, I was greeted with the sight of a little pink chick. And said pink chick, had jumped onto my head.

"Raphtalia, what's-" As I looked back at Raphtalia, she seemed to be really happy right now.

"It's cute, Jaune-sama!" She praised the pink little chick for looking adorable, but what I really needed to know what was going on here.

"Pi! Pi! Pi!" The little pink chick had started to make sounds that could possibly mean that she's happy being on top of my head. I don't know, I can't speak bird!

"It seems that the Filolial thinks of you as it's mother, Jaune-sama." I looked at her with an dead expression.

"I'm sorry, I'm the mother of what?"

"Pi!"


	5. Time's Ticking

"Pi!" Filo had been jumping on my head in excitement. Yes, I named the little pink chick, Filo. I've never heard of this type of species of birds, so I couldn't think of anything else other than Filo. Well, after naming it, it seemed happy. If it's happy with that name, then let's just stick with it.

"Jaune-sama, are you sure you're okay with that name? It just… sounds kind of lazy."

"I haven't heard of this bird, so I couldn't think of anything else. If it's happy with the name, then we can stick with it."

"...Jaune-sama." Hearing her voice become serious all of a sudden, I stopped in my tracks. She must've heard something that I didn't.

"Did you hear something?" I would be surprised to see any Grimm out here this early. We weren't far into Emerald Forest and we weren't that far from Beacon Academy. In the initiation, it took some time before encountering some Grimm.

"..." She didn't respond. She kept looking around for the source of the sound. I should probably help her. I started to look around the area with Filo.

"Pi!"

"Jaune-sama!" Hearing her call, I turned around. But I wasn't greeted with the sight of Raphtalia.

A Ursai was looking down at me with a menacing look in it's eye.

Raising its claw, it swiped down at me. Raising up my shield, I tried to take the impact from the beast. I didn't have any time to prepare myself fully, so I would only hold my shield sluggishly.

But the impact never came. Taking a look back at the Ursai, I noticed that its head had been decapitated.

_Jaune: Level Up! _

_Level: 11 _

"Jaune-sama, are you alright!?" The level up screen had popped up in my face. I didn't see my stats, but I could only see my level.

"Huh? Y-Yeah, I am." Raphtalia killed it? And she decapitated it in just one swipe!?

"Please be careful, Jaune-sama." Heh, she was already concerned about me. I'm really not showing a good impression of myself on the field, am I? I have to get serious. I'm not with my team and there's only two of us out here.

"Thank you, Raphtalia. I'll get more serious now." I reassured her. I might not be the best of capable fighters, but I can't always rely on others to save me.

Raphtalia smiled at me before pointing at something behind me.

A Beowolf….

And it looked ready to pounce at me with no hesitation…

Good. I should respond in return. Taking out my sword, I rushed at the Beowolf. I had a feeling that it was prepared for me to slash at it with my sword first, so I forced out my shield, and knocked the Beowolf back before it had the chance to attack. As it laid on its back, I used my sword to decapitate its head.

"Very good, Jaune-sama!" I laughed and scratched the back of my head to her praise. While I didn't practice with my team after my revealed transcripts, I took the time to try to figure out any strategic techniques I could use against the Grimm. Whether if I was alone, or with the professors, I wouldn't slack off on my training just because I don't have my team with me.

"Filo, okay?" Filo made an 'Pi' sound. It sounded like it was in my pocket though. Well, as long as it was in my pocket and safe, I had no problems.

"Is she alright?" Raphtalia walked up to me to see Filo's condition.

"Yeah. She's currently in my hoodie pocket right now." Raphtalia sighed in relief.

"That's good. I wouldn't know what to do if it was harmed in our travels." I had been wondering about something ever since Filo had came out of Raphtalia's pouch. Now would be the best time to ask it.

"Raphtalia, why did you even have that egg to begin with?" She smiled sadly before responding. I think I accidently brought up her parents again.

"My father gave me it before he died. Not only that, he gave me this sword and a book that I can read that teaches me magic."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring them up again. Wait, did you say that there was a book that teaches you magic?" She nodded her head before bringing it out from her pouch. It was a black book that showed a different language that I've never seen before.

"Yes, this is a book that I read that teaches me magic. Would you like to look at it?" There's no way. I didn't think that magic exist in this world. I thought aura was the only thing that was close to magic. Well, at least that's what I had been thinking all of this time.

Wait, the initiation took place in the Emerald Forest. And because of that, Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch had watched over us with cameras that had been hidden around the forest. If that's true, then…

"How about we talk about this in the hotel? Now really isn't the best of times to drop our guards so easily, right?" She looked surprised at first, until she placed the book back into her pouch. That was close. I don't know where the cameras were, so I have to be more careful.

"Raphtalia, let's go get some more levels." She nodded her head, determined to reach the top.

"Yes, let's go." We began to walk to the unknown areas of the Emerald Forest. Hopefully, we don't encounter anything death-threatening.

* * *

As we wandered around the depths of the Emerald Forest we found an entrance to a cave. During our journey, we encountered many Grimm. They were mostly Beowolves and Ursai. The strange thing about it, was the fact that we were only killing these two type of Grimm species. In the initiation, we encountered the Nevermore and the Deathstalker. Now, all of a sudden, we don't even see them anymore.

_Jaune: Level Up! _

_Level: 14_

Well, at least I get to earn some levels with the Grimm. If I could get stronger, then these Grimm would only look like fodder to me.

"Hey, Raphtalia, what level are you?" Raphtalia sheathed her sword from the last Beowolf that we had killed, and looked at me.

"What level am I? It's… seventeen." She's not gaining that much experience as much as me. In a game, this would usually mean that we have to find something that's stronger than the rest of the fodder we had been facing.

"Hm, how about after this cave, we head back to Vale to get something to eat?"

"But shouldn't we turn in your equipment after this?" She was right. Professor Goodwitch had said that I had to return to her after we're done here. Okay, it's decided.

"Don't worry, as long as we bring it back, then all is good. Besides, if we went to Professor Goodwitch when she's having class, it'll be worse for me."

"...Okay." She seems unsure for some reason. I wonder why.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just thinking to myself. We should enter the cave now." I wanted to know what she was thinking, but I think I should let it go for now. I shouldn't force her to say something that she doesn't want to. I nodded my head and we entered the cave.

"Guh!" But as we entered the cave, I felt a shock that electrocuted my entire body. I was forced to stand on one knee now.

"Jaune-sama, are you alright!?"

"Pi!"

"Y-Yeah, just a bit light headed, that's all." I was lying. My body felt like it was on fire right now. My aura didn't even negate the effects of the electricity at all. It wasn't even protecting me at all right now. Was it because it was happening on the inside of my body?

"Are you sure? When we entered… I felt something weird. Should we go back?" So she felt it too? If so, then why isn't she feeling the pain that I'm feeling right now? And Filo looks okay too. What was going on with my body?

"N-No, I'll be alright. Lets just find something that we could kill, and fast." She picked up my arm and wrapped it around her neck. Now that I think about it, Raphtalia isn't that far away from my height.

"Y-You don't have to do this, Raphtalia. I can walk just fine."

"You might say that, but this is something I want to do. Please, let me help you." I kept myself quiet. I didn't want to argue with her. For now, lets just hurry this up. I'll hide this from her, but I really wanted to see if she could do magic. If we were in this cave, then I'm sure no one would see it. \ I asked Raphtalia to give me the torch that was on the wall, and she let it up for me. After that, we began to walk.

"What is this place?" She asked me.

"I don't know. It looks like a abandoned mine railway." With the layout of the cave, it looks like workers had been here to mine stuff. Was it for dust? And if so, why all the way out in the Emerald Forest?

"Jaune-sama, I see light!" Indeed it was light. I was getting tired of holding onto the torch anyway. Putting away the torch, we entered the depths of the cave. I have only one word to say about this place: Beautiful.

"Jaune-sama, look at this place!" I've never seen this place before. There were minerals everywhere in this cave. I'm surprised no one had documented this place at all!

"Do you think these minerals are highly valued?" Raphtalia looked at me with a disappointed look. What? Lien is hard to come around. Selling these would undoubtedly put some more money into our pockets.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"Oh come on, Raphtalia. There's nothing wrong with getting some money here and there."

"But… it'll lose it's touch. This place is beautiful because of the minerals here. The glow that's shown within them makes them unique, if I should say. Taking them all would be… sad." She looked at the ground sadly.

"Okay, okay. I won't take any of them, that okay?" She continued to look at the ground. That's strange, why was she shaking?

"Raphtalia, d-don't cry! I'm not going to take anything! I swear!" Raphtalia shook her head and pointed to the ground.

"...D-Dog footprints…" Dog footprints? Why would a dog come out all the way here? And besides, Grimm makes claw marks, not dog-

***Grrrr!***

What was that noise? Looking back at Raphtalia, she was on the ground, shaking in fear. What was going on? When I looked at the direction she was facing, I noticed something out of the ordinary in the darkness...

_Three glowing red eyes…_

As the red eyes came out from the darkness, it revealed a three-headed dog….

"A-A… three-headed dog?"

"Noooo!" Hearing Raphtalia scream, the creature jumped out at us. Picking up Raphtalia, I quickly ran away to gain some distance.

"M-Mother… F-Father!"

"Raphtalia, get a hold of yourself!" This was not the time to start panicking. Was this the monster that she was afraid of? I don't get it, there were never any documents about any other creature besides Grimm! So what the hell am I looking at right now!? Moving in front of her with my shield up, I went into a fighting stance.

"J-Jaune-sama…"

"Raphtalia, this was the thing that killed your parents right? Now is the time to show me how far you can go with passing your fears. We kill this thing, and we claim our victory, do you hear me?"

"I-I can't move my b-body! I-I'm scared!"

"That's right, you are scared! But that's not going to stop you from becoming a hero, right!? Use that fear against your opponents! Your fear will grow into strength and you will be the one to rise on top! So don't stop now!"

"I-I can't!" There was no time to say anything else. The creature had started to rush at us with malice. With Raphtalia behind me, I'm not going to allow this thing to get past me!

"Grgh!" One if its heads had made collision with my shield. If I don't move now, its other two heads could get behind me and hurt Raphtalia! Moving to the left, I positioned its main head to focus only on me.

"Jaune-sama!"

"If you don't want to fight, then stay there!" After shoving its main head away from my shield, its left one had collided with my shield. But without me noticing, its right head had made a full sweep at me, forcing me to collide with the wall. Sliding down the wall, I actually felt light headed.

"D-Don't worry about me, Raphtalia! Just run!" The dog monster didn't care about Raphtalia. It was only focused on me. Rushing at me again, it was ready to kill me with its next strike. Great, my body hurts, and Raphtalia can't do anything because she's scared. How am I going to get out of this?

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Without any hesitation, Raphtalia had unsheathed her sword and decapitated its left head. While it started screaming in pain, we had some time to prepare for its next attack. After decapitating its head, I've been given EXP. So each one of its heads gives off EXP?

_Jaune: Level Up! _

_Level: 15 _

_Welcome…_

_**Shield Hero…**_

Shield… Hero? What was going on here? Before I could do anything else, my right arm felt like it was on fire.

"Gahhhh!" Dropping my sword in my right arm, I looked at my arm.

"Are you alright, Jaune-sama!?" The pain… it went away. Since the pain went away, I went to grab my sword again, only for the pain to come back again. I dropped it again, and the pain disappeared. Why was my sword hurting me? It never did this before, so what is going on?

"Y-Yeah, I think so!"

"Jaune-sama, look out!" I looked away from my arm to the sight of the dog monster rushing at me again.

"Crap!" I raised up my shield again, and it collided with it again. Blocking while on the ground is really not the best way to defend yourself. How long do I have to deal with this stupid dog!? As the main head was busy trying to get past my shield, the right head was closing in on me.

"Hiya!" From out of nowhere, Raphtalia had jumped up, and decapitated its right head. I really have to thank Raphtalia for this. After screaming out in pain again, the last head had turned towards Raphtalia.

"Raphtalia, look out!" She wouldn't have time to dodge…

I need to protect her… and fast!

Getting up from the ground, I ran as fast I could to reach to her. I need to protect her, and I'm not going to lose another friend! Suddenly, my feet felt very light. So light, that I could move my body more easily. Quickly rushing to Raphtalia's side, I raised my shield to block its attack.

"Jaune-sama? How?" I had closed the distance from me and Raphtalia now.

"I don't know, and I don't care! As long as I'm protecting you, that's all that matters! Now! Attack it while it's on me!" She nodded and slashed the neck of the dog, causing it to flinch back in pain. Since the dog creature had moved away from us, I turned around to Raphtalia with my shield up.

"Raphtalia!" Understanding what I was planning, she ran towards me, and jumped onto my shield. Feeling her weight, I pushed my shield above me for her to gain some momentum.

"Hiya!" After jumping off my shield, she raised her sword above her head and drove into the creature's skull. At last, victory was ours.

"Jaune-sama, we did it!" Just a few minutes ago, she was scared of this thing. Now, she stood on top of the dog and yelled for victory.

"Yeah. Because of you, we won the battle." I smiled at her and a screen had popped up in front of me again.

_Jaune The Shield Hero: Level Up! _

_Level: 17_

There it goes again with Shield Hero. I didn't even know what that means. I tried to pick up my sword again, only for it to draw pain into me again. This is stupid. Why the hell can't I pick up my sword?

"Jaune-sama, your shield… it changed!" It changed? I don't have the ability to change my shield, let alone my sword! I looked at my shield, which was planted onto my left arm, and stared at it.

It was different…

Instead of my normal shield, in place of it, was a silver shield that held a green gem in the middle of it. When did my shield change into this smaller shield? And more importantly, what was-

"Jaune-sama! Do you see what I'm seeing!?" Raphtalia called me to get my attention, but I was too busy focused on the newest thing that had popped up on my menu.

It was a timer…

**730:59:40**

And it was beginning to tick down…

**730:59:39**

**730:59:38**

**(A/N) **

**Hey, what a surprise! Another quick upload! I know that I'm not good at fight scenes, but I'm trying to learn, okay! Okay, other than that, this whole message is for everyone that read this. Thank you. I didn't really think that this story would become of interest to anybody, so I just said: "what the heck?" I'll try to make this story as much as interesting as I can, but no promises! (Seriously, please don't hurt me. I'm doing the best I can...)**


	6. Doing What's Right

"And… there. I don't know why you can't use your sword, but be careful not to use it, Jaune-sama. I don't want you experiencing that sort of pain again." Feeling the back sheathe tie around my back, she put my sword into the holder.

"Thanks, Raphtalia." Two days had passed since the encounter with that dog. Thanks to Raphtalia's bravery, we were able to take that thing down with no problem. We spent most of yesterday just trying to recover from had happened to us. Not that many injuries, but we were able to recover nicely. Other than the strange appearance of that dog, the new problem is: why can't I use my sword anymore? Because I couldn't even hold my sword, let alone use it, I had Raphtalia hold it for me until we got to a blacksmith. After that, we went back to the hotel.

Thinking back, the only thing I could piece together would be the connection of the name: Shield Hero. So I can't use my sword, and the only thing I can use now is the new shield that suddenly popped up from out of nowhere for all I know. It even hurts when I touch it. I guess I have to find another way to overcome this problem that I'm having. Maybe Professor Goodwitch could help me.

"Raphtalia, do you think the menu ties into the Shield Hero's name?" Raphtalia's ears had perked at the name.

"Shield Hero!? As in one of the Four Cardinal Heroes!?"

"I don't know what that is, but yes, Shield Hero. It gave me the title while we were fighting against that dog yesterday."

"You're the Shield Hero, Jaune-sama!?" Um, how much does she know about the Shield Hero's title? Is that some kind of special title for people that's good at holding their shields?

"S-Sorry. It's just that my parents told me about how there was a previous Shield Hero that cared for Demi-Humans. I never met him personally, but from what I heard from him, he was a fantastic hero."

"Fantastic hero, huh…? So what exactly does the Shield Hero do?" Raphtalia shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't really know. Have you checked for any abilities in your menu?" Wait, why didn't I look for anything like that? Looking at the menu, I've look for abilities for the shield. And surprisingly, I was greeted with some sort of branch that I've seen before. Were these the skills that goes with the shield?

"What are you looking at?" Raphtalia walked next to my shoulder to see what I was looking at.

"I'm guessing the abilities that were talking about. This just looks like a whole bunch of random stuff." I looked at the top of the branch to see the following words:

_Status Magic: Ability to see one's status. Only the four heroes are enabled to see one's status with Status Magic. _

Status magic? Wait, does that mean that I have magic now? The shield itself has granted me the ability to my own status? Of course I would be shocked to have magic, but if it's only to see my status, then I'm not that impressed. Wait a second, Raphtalia was able to see her status first, so does that mean that she's also a hero? If so, then of what? Wait, there's another text above this one saying:

_The Legendary Shield: The Legendary Shield grants the user high defensive power against enemy attacks and can transform to become stronger. The user of the Legendary Shield will not be able to use any other weapons other than the Legendary Shield. The green gem in the middle will transform the shield under specific conditions. _

...I can't use my sword? That's bullshit! So I can't use my sword because of this stupid damn shield!? Okay, calm down, Jaune. So other than me using my weapon, the shield will be able to transform under the conditions that are necessary. I wonder what kind of transformations it can use. Looking back at the branch, I clicked on a random shield ability and looked through the condition.

"Seems easy enough." After looking at the requirements, I started to search around the room for the thing that I needed.

"Jaune-sama, are you looking for something?"

"Yeah, just looking for some rope." The hotel had to have some rope lying around. If there was a fire, then people would just use rope to climb down from the window. Are they still using that today?

"Can I ask why?" Raphtalia stood there as she watched me look around the entire room.

"Well, the menu said that the shield will transform under specific conditions, and one of them just happens to need to absorb some rope. Aha!" After explaining my reasoning, I finally found the rope. They won't be needing this so I minus will just help myself.

"Hey, Raphtalia, how do I "absorb" something?" I looked at Raphtalia with confusion. She stared back with the same manner.

"I… don't really know exactly." I guess "absorb" isn't really a word of clarification as to how I would gain the ability. Seriously, how am I supposed to absorb this rope? Wait, it said that the green gem in the middle of the shield allows it to transform. So what if I…

"It's working!" Placing the rope at the green gem, it started to absorb the rope until there was nothing was left of it.

"Jaune-sama, what exactly happened to the rope?"

"I think I 'absorbed' the rope, Raphtalia." After the rope had disappeared, a menu had popped up in front of my face. So this was going to happen occasionally when I absorb something, huh?

_Shield Acquired: Rope Shield _

_Ability Gained: Air Strike Shield_

_P. Defense +15_

_M. Defense +20 _

_No other stats affected. _

After looking at the shield's stats, just thinking about the shield had transformed the small shield into what was described as the "Rope Shield." The gem was still in the middle, so I guess I don't have to return the shield into its original form to change it again. So the different types of shields grant me a boost to my stats. Rope Shield, huh? I don't think the name is creative…

"Um, Raphtalia, how do I use the ability?" She cocked her head to the side in confusion. Look, I get it. Just because I don't understand magic, it doesn't mean you can just look at me like I'm sort of idiot!

"It didn't say how to use it?"

"It only said something about gaining an ability. It didn't tell me how to use it." Raphtalia responded with an "oh!" before walking in front of me.

"As source of thy power I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and conceal me with haze." Um, what was she talking about? Is she doing some sort of ritual in front of me?

"Hide Mirage!" As soon as she said that, Raphtalia disappeared...

W-Wait, she disappeared!?

"Raphtalia! Where did you go!?" Since she disappeared, I started to extend my arms to see if I could touch her.

"I'm still here Jaune-sama. This is-Jaune-sama!" After hearing her voice, I trailed my hands towards it. I didn't really expect to feel something that was soft.

"Raphtalia, is this you?" I felt like I was actually touching Raphtalia, even though she wasn't in front of me.

"Y-Yes, Jaune-sama! You're touching my face, and you're too close!"

"O-Oh, sorry about that." After moving back away from the unseen Raphtalia, she came back into my vision. She looks a bit red in the face too. Maybe I shouldn't have touched her face so casually…

"I-It's fine. A-Anyway, that was casting." Her red face had soon disappeared, only for it to be replaced with her usual calm one.

"Casting?"

"When I use magic, I use "casting" in order to use the spell. Well, I don't really have to do it, but I just wanted to show you how it worked."

"So you could impress me?"

"N-No! I didn't want to impress you at all!" I stared blankly in her eyes, then looked at the back of her, showing that her tail was wagging aggressively. So she wanted to impress me…

"It looked really cool though…"

"Really!? I-I mean, well, if you want, I could perhaps… teach you some of what I know…"

"You can do that? Is there any limitations for any of this magic?" Raphtalia's mood had deflated after I had asked that.

"Well, there are some limitations. As in, the user of the spell has to have the same affinity it possesses. Most of my abilities are from light and dark magic so…." I already knew where she was going with the end of it.

"If I don't have the same affinity as you, then I can't use the spell, right?" She nodded in response, only for her to drop down onto the bed that was next to her. She was really looking forward into showing me some magic, wasn't she?

"Air Strike Shield!" I remembered the ability that I had just earned, and called out its name. Suddenly, a green shield had been placed right in front of me. At this, I smiled. Magic really was cool, wasn't it? A menu had popped up in front of me showing me that my SP had been depleted. So everytime I use an ability, my SP is drained. Was this really a game? Wait, what happened to my MP?

"Did you understand the casting, Jaune-sama?" So just calling out the ability allowed me to use it, huh? I… might get the hang of this.

"A little, but with you, I could learn a lot of things about magic." Raphtalia nodded her head and smiled.

"Yes, I'll teach you everything that I know about magic, Jaune-sama."

"Yeah!" With that said, we were about to head outside to do… something. Okay, I think it was time that I took this thing off already. I don't want to keep walking around with this thing on me. That'll look weird. I even slept yesterday off without noticing that I still had this thing on my arm. Now all I have to is to simply-

"Huh?" Raphtalia looked at me when she heard me.

"Is there something wrong, Jaune-sama?"

"It's not coming off…?" I pulled down on the shield,to eventually find out that it wasn't budging.

"What do you mean that it's not coming off?" She walked over to me to see the shield for herself.

"Are you pulling down hard enough?" I nodded my head as I continued to pull down on the shield. It wasn't even slipping down my arm!

"Raphtalia, grab a hold of this thing." She nodded her head, and proceeded to hold the opposite side of the shield.

"3...2...1… and pull!" At the count of one, she began to pull as hard as she could. I also began to pull the opposite direction. I was slowly being dragged away as Raphtalia continued to pull.

"Wait, Raphtalia, you're dragging me!" How strong was this girl!? Or was I just too weak to not even pull back with a strong enough force?

"W-Wait, I think I can see the shield slipping!" She proceeded to pull harder and harder until the point where I had been forcefully pulled towards her. This wasn't going to end well, was it?

"Raphtalia!"

"Jaune-sama!" Raphtalia caught me before my face had made an intimate relationship with the floor. If anyone could hear this commotion, then they would probably misunderstand the situation.

"A-Are you okay, Jaune-sama!?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so. Do you still think that it slipped off?"

"...S-Sorry."

"It's fine. Man, this shield won't even come off! What the hell is the deal with this thing!?" As if heaven had heard my question, a menu had popped up in front of me.

_The Shield Hero is also not be able to unequip the Legendary Shield…_

Oh, how wonderful. NOW YOU TELL ME!?

"U-Um, Jaune-sama?" She sounded like she was nervous about something.

"Yes?"

"C-Could you, perhaps, get off of me?" A shame I didn't notice sooner, that I was, in fact, laying on top of her.

"O-Oh, sorry about that. Are you alright, though?" She didn't say anything but nod her head violently. Well, that was something...

We heard a sound that resembled the usual "Pi!" from Filo. However, it was more… different than usual. And there is a specific reason why it sounds "different."

"Raphtalia…" We both stared at Filo with blank stares. Anyone sane would show a similar reaction just like ours.

"Yes, Jaune-sama…?"

"I think I need a bigger pocket…"

"I think your pocket would rip, Jaune-sama…"

"I guess you're right…" Looking at Filo, we could see that it grew bigger. And when I mean bigger, I really mean BIGGER! Just a couple days ago, she was the size of a newborn chick but now, she was pretty much the size of my head! What kind of bird grows this fast!?

"Pi! Pi! Pi!" I think it's hungry now…

And I have to be the one that makes food to feed her…

* * *

We were able to have something for Filo. And that involved putting it in Raphtalia's pouch until we actually find something that we put it in.

"Jaune-sama, shouldn't we return your equipment to your teacher?" We started to walk around the streets of Vale with no real objective. There wasn't really anything to do, so I guess we could just waste our time just walking around.

"Mhm… I think we should go tomorrow. Today's the last day before I have to attend my classes again. I don't really want to worry about school until tomorrow." After mentioning school, Raphtalia's ears had went droopy again.

"Hey, Jaune-sama?" She seemed concerned about something. And by the looks of it, she looked like it had been on her mind for some time now.

"Yes?"

"What… would happen to me when you go to school?" I wanted to quickly reply to her that we'll still see each other again, but I couldn't say it. Leaving Raphtalia on her own until I was free is never a good option. She's been part of her village for a majority of her life, so she wouldn't know that much about Vale on her own.

"I…. I'll think of something. Don't worry about anything Raphtalia." She didn't reply, but I could tell that she still feels uncertain. She's been lonely all this time, and now, I have to be the one that leaves her on her own.

"Jaune-sama- I-" I was in front of her, so I didn't really know the reason as to why she stopped talking. Looking back, I was greeted with the sight of-

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going, miss."

"N-No, it was me who wasn't paying attention." The man looked too close for comfort. Is he some kind of weirdo? Well, he's wearing a business outfit, but that's besides the point!

"No, seriously, it was all my fault miss…"

"It's Raph-" I had cut in the middle of the two before she had said her name.

"It's Raphtalia. Is there something that you need?" I made my voice sound a bit demanding. I didn't trust this guy. Remember women's intuition? Yeah, I call mine "Jaune's Intuition."

"Are you her friend? Sorry to bother, but I was just-" The man had stopped before looking at Raphtalia.

"Y-You're a Faunus!?" Crap, looking at Raphtalia, I forgot to give her something that covers her head. Now, her ears and tail are fully revealed to the public. I shouldn't have been careless!

"She is. What's the probl-"

"Apologize to me at once, you damn animal!" He pointed at Raphtalia and screamed at her, gaining the attention from others. Did this man just turn his personality around in a single second?

"Wh-What?" She backed up a bit from the man. Even she was confused as to what was going on.

"I said apologize to me! You Faunus have no respect for humans, thinking you can do whatever you want!" This man really looked terrible on the inside. This just shows how people are these days.

"I-I already apologized!" She yelled back at him.

"Like the hell you did! Apologize to me, now!" This argument was starting to get out of hand. People were coming to see what the commotion was about.

"No! I already said I was sorry!" The man looked like he was about to flip. I have to do something before-

*Slap!"

Did he… just smack her? Looking at Raphtalia, she was on the ground and holding her cheek in pain.

"That's right, you deserve to be on the ground. Animals should always be on their hands and feet any-" Not giving him another chance to speak, I smacked him.

"Apologize to her… now."

"What are you, some kind of Faunus lover? Disgusting!" People started to whisper to each other. I didn't care though. What he did, was something unforgivable.

"No, I'm Jaune Arc. Apologize to her and leave-" Before I could say anything, I felt something hit my cheek. Was that, a tomato?

"Ugly Faunus lover!"

"Go die along with the other Faunus!"

"A human and a Faunus!? What kind of shit is that!?" Some of the people began throwing things at me. They started to insult me. Just because I protected a Faunus. Just because I protected a girl. Just because…

_I protected my friend…_

"Jaune-sama, let's just go, already!" She said this as she held onto my arm. She was also getting things thrown at her. Why? She didn't do anything wrong. So why treat her like she's some sort of monster?

"No, he's going to apologize. I'm not going to leave unless he does so." The man had started to laugh at me. The nerve of this prick…

"Or what, you're going to hurt me? You're a huntsman aren't you? And what better luck, is that you attend Beacon Academy, don't you? It makes sense. That's the only school that's filled with troublesome teens like you. Especially disgusting Faunus like-" I didn't give him a chance to say another word.

Instead of Raphtalia...

Instead of the people…

All I heard was the cracking of the broken nose that my fist had collided with…

With the bit of anger I had in me, I accidently lost control of myself and sent him into the nearest building.

"J-Jaune-sama, stop!" I could finally hear Raphtalia pleas after coming back to my senses. I didn't think I had it in me to just punch someone like that.

"Raphtalia? Are you alright?" I felt

"Yes, I'm alright! Let's just leave already, before-" Raphtalia didn't have a chance to say anything else.

"Mr. Arc, what a coincidence. I see that you're using your time wisely with the break that I had given you." I looked at the source of the voice. Even his mere presence was enough to silence the entire crowd.

"Headmaster Ozpin?" In response, he only sipped his coffee before responding with his voice.

"Yes, it's me. I do believe that the three of us will need to have a nice and long conversation in Beacon Academy, correct?" Without even telling me who was referring to, I instantly knew who he was talking about…

Raphtalia...

Oh, crap...


	7. Water in the Dam

(**Technical diffuculties on my part. Sorry for the people who had already read this chapter...)**

"What!? How is that considered as punishment!?" I screamed at the top of my lungs at the headmaster's absurd punishment. For the thousandth time, Headmaster Ozpin had sipped his coffee again. Seriously, how many cups does he drink a day?

"Mr. Arc, your eyes aren't as hollow as they used to be anymore. That's showing some improvement on your part." Wait, what? Forget about my eyes, damnit!

"And Mr. Arc, please do mind that we are in the same room with one another. You do not have to scream because of the punishment given to you."

"B-But, how are you letting me off easy with this kind of punishment!? It's not easy at all!" I lowered my voice down a bit, but I couldn't really stop myself from screaming a bit.

"Mr. Arc, all that I am asking you is to cooperate with your team members again. This is 'letting you off easy' compared to my other punishment I had in mind." I don't think I should ask about the other punishment.

"But they left me first! Why should I be the one that sounds like I left them behind!?"

"No one is saying that, Mr. Arc. This school was created for the purpose of cooperating with your teammates and-" Cutting off the headmaster, the person who runs this school is probably not a good idea on my part.

"But what if they don't want to work with me? What if they continued to ignore me? Headmaster Ozpin, please, don't do this to me. I'm fine working with Raphtalia and-"

"Working with Raphtalia, you say? I'm sorry, I don't think you introduced me to this "Raphtalia" person." Raphtalia had been sitting next to me while I was getting lectured. I'm not giving her a good impression of myself am I?

"I-I'm Raphtalia." Raphtalia pointed at herself for her introduction.

"Hello, Ms. Raphtalia. Now, how much can I trust you with Jaune?"

"Even if we didn't spend that much time together, I decided that I will protect him from any danger that we face. If I'm risking my life, then so be it. I will and always remain as Jaune-sama's sword." Raphtalia, please don't give away the fact that I can't use my sword anymore. If he finds out, then I don't know what sorts of things that could happen to me!

"His sword, you say? Tell me, why do you want to do that?" Headmaster Ozpin had resting his head on his hands in interest. Was that… weird to say in this day and era? I mean, she wants to be my sword, while I'm her shield so…

"Because… he saved my life when nobody else was there. For the things that he's done for me, I owe him my life. Not as my savior, but as his friend." Headmaster Ozpin had raised his hand to stop her. I could say the same thing to her…

She was the only one besides my teachers to be there for me. She was a complete stranger at first, but now, she was saying that she was willing to risk her life to keep me safe…

Thank you...for everything that you've done, Raphtalia.

"That's enough, Ms. Raphtalia. Hearing your words has helped me trust you. And what about you, Mr. Arc? Are you okay with her decision?" I nodded my head to give him my confirmation. He started to lean back in his chair now.

"...Mr. Arc, you do realize that she is not a student at this school, correct?"

"Y-Yes."

"And since she is not a part of this school, then you know what that means, correct?" Raphtalia looked down at floor sadly. He's going to kick her out…

"Professor Ozpin, please reconsider! She doesn't have anywhere else to go!" He simply raised his hand again.

"Rest assured, Mr. Arc. I am not kicking her out of my school." She suddenly raised her head, hearing what Headmaster Ozpin had said.

"What?" We both said this simultaneously. We were both equally shocked at the headmaster's decision. Wait, there has to be some sort of catch to this, right?

"She will be attending your classes along with you, Mr. Arc. If she can make this much of an impact on you, then I will allow her to stick by you as much as she wants. That is my final answer. However, we have a problem right now." We both looked at each in confusion.

"Teams. Each student in this school is required to be put into a team of four." Great, we don't have two other members with us, so how are we supposed to make a team with just us two? Filo isn't counting either.

"However, because of your… situation, I am looking to turn a blind-eye on this requirement for the time being. Only if I have your confirmation on something, Mr. Arc." Turn a blind-eye? You mean, he's willing to let us be a team of two?

"What do you mean by that?" When I asked him that, he leaned forward, resting his head on his hands.

"Mr. Arc, are you willing to relieve yourself of your duties as the leader of JNPR for the formation of this new team?" To create a team with only me and Raphtalia, I only need to simply...

Abandon… JNPR?

"H-Headmaster Ozpin, what if I do abandon my previous team? What would happen to them?" I'll admit it. I'm concerned for my partners. They wouldn't have their leader, so what would happen to them? Would I… get replaced?

"We will simply change the leader of the team, or if they request it, replace you with someone else on the team." If they requested it? I was going to be thrown away like nothing. Would I be considered nothing to them? The memories that we shared…

It would have been all for nothing…

But they left me first. Why should I be the one who has to suffer like this? Am I willing to forgive them, and go back to how things were?

…

…

…

"_Jaune, make some of your fantastic pancakes!" _

"_Nora, leave him alone, he's been having a rough time already." _

"_Ren, don't you understand how good his cooking is!? I demand pancakes, oh-fearless leader!"_

"_Nora, let him rest. He'll make them when-"_

"_It's fine, Pyrrha. Cooking would help me get some of this stress out of my mind. Alright, Nora! Prepared to be pull until your heart's content!" _

"_Yeah! Pancakes!" _

"_Nora, don't be stubborn all of the time…" _

"_Heh,I think we should give up, Ren. She won't be listening if she's going to be stuffing all of those pancakes in her mouth!"_

"_...Alright then. Hey, Jaune, make sure you make some for us too!" _

"_What! You and Pyrrha wants some too!? I think Nora's going to eat all of it!" _

"Headmaster Ozpin." I called out his name, determined to make my decision. I felt like our team should never be apart. Our team was made for the sole purpose of creating bonds. The memories we shared… The struggles we faced…

"_Jaune, do you mind holding this for me? I might be a guy, but having this much hair is troublesome..." Ren walks towards me with a brush in hand..._

_Ren..._

"_So how's your day been, partner?" Pyrrha stands next to me, holding my shoulder for comfort..._

_Pyrrha…_

"_Oh, fearless leader!" Nora runs at me, closing the space between us with a hug..._

_Nora…_

And I can't afford to lose none of it…

…

...

_**But are they still my friends…? Would I forgive them? **_

"_**Jaune… please, don't make this harder than it is for me. Just… please, let me be alone for now…" Pyrrha begins to disappear...**_

_**Pyrrha…**_

"_**Fearless leader… thank you, for all you've done for us… Maybe you can start somewhere else… like making your own pancake store!" Nora runs off...**_

_**Nora…**_

"_**Jaune, I'm sorry…" Ren slowly walks away...**_

_**Ren...**_

"Jaune-sama…" I felt someone's hand over mine. I looked to see that Raphtalia, who was still sitting next me, was holding my hand with hers. I smiled, reassuring that I was doing okay.

_But __**I'm**_ _not… _

I was confused. I didn't know what to decide on. Once again… my head was filled with uncertainty.

"Mr. Arc, before you answer, how about I give you another option?" I looked at Headmaster Ozpin, waiting for the next option that was going to be given to me.

"And… what is it?" Raphtalia squeezed my hand tighter. She's just as nervous as me. We don't know what to do with our own life anymore. It's like everything had been taken away from us and this next decision would be the one that determines our next plans…

"Here is my deal, Mr. Arc. Tomorrow, I will be sending you out on a mission to investigate nearby villages. I will allow you to stay as a team with Ms. Raphtalia, but you can also bring in two members of your team along with you." We both stared at him in shock. Was I… going to be sent on missions for Headmaster Ozpin? Isn't that what matured huntsman do?

"You see, I've been given reports that "monsters", mostly referring to Grimm, had been reported to be close to invading nearby villages. To us, that would be a problem since we do get certain food and equipment from these villages. Some of them I haven't heard of, but lending a hand would be the best option we have. Which is why I'm asking for the both of you to find and save as much people you can before any Grimm infiltrates the villages."

"You're asking me of all people? Why can't you just ask-" He began to sip his coffee again. How much does he have in that cup?

"It's because I asked you, Mr. Arc. I will, however, be sure to pay you after you are done with these missions that I assign to you. Now then, Mr. Arc, are you willing to take this opportunity? And most importantly…" I gulped at the stare that the headmaster was giving me. While I know he usually has his usual stoic expression, he had replaced it with a look of seriousness.

"Are you ready to take on a real Huntsman's job?"

* * *

"Raphtalia, try to keep your hair a bit more straightened, okay?" We were currently inside a room that Headmaster Ozpin had provided us. This was good because we both have a place to stay now. I don't… really want to talk to "them" right now. I just need a bit of space.

"Sorry Jaune-sama." Meanwhile, I was dealing with Raphtalia's messy hair that hasn't been kept in good condition ever since we first met. Just finding places to cut her hair had been a struggle for me.

"Jaune-sama, can I ask you a question?" Finishing her hair, I set aside the brush and told her to look at the mirror for a second before answering her. It wasn't that much different than her usual style. She looked in the mirror in awe while touching her hair.

"Sure, what is it?" She turned to me and started to wag her tail slowly a bit. Is that showing me that she's nervous about the question?

"Jaune-sama, do you believe in other worlds?"

"Other worlds? You mean like in those science fiction movies?" I haven't watched that many movies that involved going to different worlds, but I did get a bit interested in the concept of it. And so, I started to read some comics that involved other worlds, universes, and so on.

"Um, I don't know what that is, but maybe. Jaune-sama, what if I told you that I could potentially be from an entirely different world?" I raised my eyebrow at her in question.

"I guess that could be cool. But that's just nonsense, Raphtalia. There's no way you could be from a different world. Sure, you might not know that much about Vale, the Grimm, this school, and… no, that can't be…" She only nodded her head slowly at me. She didn't seem troubled at this, but I still don't buy it.

"Th-That can't be. I mean, you said you came from a village, right? Then it makes sense that you don't know that much about…!" Anything else that would be said will only cause me to believe more that she came from another world. But… how was this possible? Telling myself that it wasn't true wouldn't help me at all. It all makes sense now. Even with those previous options, there was still one option that proves that she _is _from another world…

Magic…

Now that I think about it, she was the only person that told me about the existence of magic. While it was still confusing to me, magic wasn't even taught to us in school, let alone acknowledged the existence of it. No, she _has_ to be from another world. She only knows things that were in her world, while I only know things that are in my world.

But if someone else besides myself knows about this, then…

"Raphtalia." I walked to Raphtalia, and placed my hands on her shoulders. She looked a bit red in the face, but she needs this warning.

"Y-Yes?" Her tail had started wagging uncontrollably as she tried her best to divert her attention somewhere else.

"Do not tell anyone else about this. I believe that you do come from another world, but we can't let anyone else know about this." She continued to look for something in the room to look at besides me. Was she not paying attention?

"I-I understand. C-Can you...you know, give me some space?"

"Alright then, as long as you understand the risk, then it's fine." Before I could say anything else, I heard someone's stomach start to growl. Raphtalia looked at me with her tail and ears drooped down.

"S-Sorry…"

"Well, I guess we can get something to eat then." She eagerly nodded her head and started to walk towards the door. Does she even know where she's going? I guess I'm going to have to lead the way again…

"Pi!"

And it looked like Filo was hungry too. Since there was a no pet policy, I'm going to have to find something that could hide her away from others…

"Pi!" Was she getting a bit bigger? No, it must be my imagination. There's no way birds can grow fast...

Right...?

* * *

"And we finally made it to the cafeteria." We both stopped at the door before entering it. We could hear the students conversing in the room… and it feels packed.

"Jaune-sama, are you sure we should go? I mean, you can always cook for the both of us. I know that you don't like to-" Worried about me, she grabbed my arm before I opened the door.

"Don't worry, Raphtalia, I'll be fine. Anything that happens to me is my problem. And I have to be the one that faces this, head up and forward." She seemed reluctant as she wanted to open her mouth and say something, but she decided not to. Seeing her uncertainty, I patted her head.

"Let's go." I opened the door to the cafeteria, preparing myself to deal with my problems. I don't like the fact that I'm forcing myself like this, but I wanted to do this. I need this…

And so, we walked to the food counter. I didn't look at anyone because I wanted to ignore their surprised stares. Team RWBY, Team (J)NPR, and Team CRDL was staring at the both of us. I know I didn't want to look at them, but I couldn't help it. I was too nervous.

We grabbed a plate, and sat down at a unoccupied table. Chicken, rice, and apple sauce… not the best of combinations that I would want to eat, but food is food. Surprisingly, Raphtalia sat right next to me.

"Are you doing okay, Jaune-sama?" I looked at her and smiled.

"Y-Yeah, but the glances aren't helping at all." I couldn't lie to her. She could see my hand shaking from time to time, and the visible sweat started to run down my cheek. This was not a good idea. I'm not ready for this, yet.

"Jaune-sama, please calm down. Don't look at anyone else but me, okay?" She placed her hand on top of mine again. It was still shaking, but I think I was calming down a bit.

"Y-Yeah…" All of a sudden, I wasn't feeling hungry anymore. All of the glances were getting to me now. I watched Raphtalia take a bite of the chicken and was instantly pleased.

"It's really good, Jaune-sama!" Isn't she being a bit dramatic? I wouldn't say that it was _THAT _good, but she continued taking bites of the food until the point that her face was covered in particles of food. Gosh, Raphtalia, ever learned of some table manners?

"Jaune-sama, why aren't you eating?" She asked me this with food stuffed inside her mouth.

"I'm… not that hungry anymore. And Raphtalia, remember to eat before speaking. It's a bit rude to talk with your mouth full." Her ears perked up before swallowing the rest of food.

"S-Sorry." After that, I grabbed a cloth that was in front of me, and started to wipe her face.

"And make sure you clean yourself nicely. You don't want to have too much crumbs on your face, right?" She was a bit red in the face while I continued to wipe her face.

"Th-Thank you, Jaune-sama." After thanking me, she made a surprised face as if she had come up with an idea. Scooping up a bit of rice, she presented it in front of my face.

"You're… feeding me?" I raised my eyebrow in question. She smiled in return.

"Say, ahhh!" Is she trying to feed me? I'm not a kid!

"Raphtalia, you don't have to-" Forcefully stuffing the rice in my mouth, I couldn't speak. With the food in my mouth, I started to chew.

"Is it good? My parents had always said that sharing food will always make it taste better." She started to scoop up a bit more of the rice off her plate again. I shrugged slightly before eating from off of the spoon again. It did taste a bit different than usual rice that I was used to.

"Are you a bit calmer now?" I nodded my head, choosing not to speak because I had food in my mouth. She giggled a bit before placing her spoon down.

"Now it's your turn." My turn? I have to be the one that has to feed her now? Doesn't… couples do this? I didn't particularly do this with Ruby, but this was something that I've seen constantly when roaming around Vale on my own. This is… so embarrassing. Picking up my spoon, I scooped some of my rice and…

"Say, ahhh!" I wasn't the one who said this. Instead, I had felt food dumped over my head. All over my body…

"Hahahah! So, Jauney-boy, finally done with your pity break?" I ignored him. I picked up the spoon that I had dropped on the table, scooped up the rice again, and placed it in front of Raphtalia.

"Say, ahh, Raphtalia…" Raphtalia didn't open her mouth to eat the food. Instead, she only looked at the rest of Cardin's team, who was beginning to surround us. Because of Cardin…

More students began to stare at us…

We shouldn't have came here…

I wasn't ready to face them. And I will never be ready...

"Jauney-boy, I'm speaking to you. It's rude to ignore someone while they're trying to talk to you." He grabbed a hold of my hoodie…

And couldn't lift me up…?

"Cardin… I'm trying to talk to my friend. Now could you please do me a favor and leave me alone?" The rest of team CRDL Cardin hesitated with a nervous look, before quickly replacing it with a mischievous smile.

"Or what? Is your 'pet' going to bite me? I think you hit your head on something before coming here, Jauney-boy. No one, and I do mean, EVERYONE, doesn't want you here. Now how about you do us _all_ a favor and leave with your little 'pet.' I think she's stinking up the entire room with her disgusting tail." Raphtalia's tail had stiffened at the word: pet. Is this a phase of aggressiveness that she's showing?

No one expect the rest of Team CRDL had began to laugh. I don't care how funny it is to them, just leave us alone. Raphtalia did nothing wrong, and he's just going to insult her? The damn nerve…

"Ah! Let go!" Before I could say anything, I heard Raphtalia yell. Looking back at her, I noticed that Dove, who was behind her, had started to roughly pull on her ears. Seeing her like this, I wanted to hurry and help her.

"Raphtal-" Before I could finish calling out Raphtalia's name, I felt Cardin pull my hoodie back to stop me from helping her. I'm guessing he had to put some more force into arm to pull me back. At this, he laughed even more.

"What's wrong, Jauney-boy? Sad that you can't help your freak of a friend?" He pulled on it more, causing me to be pulled back again.

…

…

"…"

"Not saying anything else? Well, I guess actions _do _speak louder than words!" After saying that, he raised up his fist and punched me…

"Jaune-sama!" Seeing this, Raphtalia had grabbed Dove's arm and twisted it to get him off of her and pushed him into his friends. This surprised the rest of the students that were in the cafeteria. How am I seeing this? Well, even Cardin if did punch me, I didn't recoil back in pain. Raphtalia quickly rushed to my side, seeing if I had been harmed.

"Jaune-sama, are you alright?" I didn't respond to her. I wasn't trying to neglect her, no. I was busy holding my cheek, trying to figure out what had just happened.

I didn't feel the weight of his punch…

I didn't feel a once of pain from his punch…

"Ahh! My hand!" Instead of me recoiling in pain, Cardin was the one who was hurt. He was holding his hand, like he was trying to recover from punching a brick wall. I felt tug on my heart, as I watched Cardin scream out in pain. Was I… feeling bad for Cardin? No, that can't be. Why should I feel bad for the number one bully in this school? Most importantly...

I was… alright?

"H-Huh? Raphtalia? O-Oh, I'm not hurt or anything." I finally responded back to Raphtalia. I was still a bit shaken, but other than that, I was alright. She sighed in relief after moving my face side to side. I'm guessing that she was looking for any bruises on me. She's truly a kind person.

"Jaune!" Hearing Cardin's yelling, I turned around to see that Cardin was rushing at me with his other fist raised up. Yelling to the person that you are about to hit is not a good idea, Cardin. While I was prepared to deal with Cardin, Raphtalia had jumped in front of me, surprising me fully.

"Raphtalia!" When Cardin swung his fist down, Raphtalia had quickly dodged it by moving to the left side of his body. But before his fist could meet up with me, Raphtalia had grabbed his arm, stopping his arm completely.

"That's enough. While I will ignore your friends messing my ears, I will not, however, forgive anyone that has any interest in harming Jaune-sama. Who do you think you are, bullying students like this?" She started to squeeze his arm a bit.

"Y-You damn bitch!" At this, Raphtalia had started to squeeze his arm harder. Why… was she doing this? I don't think she was trying to break his arm, but with enough force, she could.

".. Jaune-sama has done nothing wrong to you. What makes you think it's okay to do this to him?" Cardin was on the floor, kneeling in pain. Right now, I'm looking at a Raphtalia that was looking down on someone in disgust. Why was she going so far for me?

Was it because of pity...?

Why did she even become my friend to begin with…?

"He's… a damn liar! He faked his own transcripts, and even dared to come here when he's this weak! What makes you think that Beacon Academy needs this pathetic-"

"But did he harm anyone in the process? Did his lie do anything that could've potentially risk the lives of his teammates? And what makes you think that this school needs someone like you? A person who will only pick on the weak is the closest definition to being pathetic! You might call Jaune-sama a weakling, but from what I see from him, he is a person who's strong because of his kindness... She finally let go of Cardin's arm, and walked up to me.

"Raphtalia…" She took my hand and started to lead me out of the cafeteria. She only smiled at me and continued to lead me to the door.

"I'll get you both back for this! I'll make your life hell, Jaune! Everyone will see just how weak and pathetic you are!" Raphtalia had stopped, causing me to stop along with her. She turned her head to face me with a smile, before looking back at Cardin with a serious face.

"If he's pathetic and weak in everyone's eyes, then I would be the one to tell the truth that they're wrong..." With that said, we started to walk again. I glanced at Team RWBY and Team (J)NPR. They weren't looking my way anymore…

Was I nothing to them now…?

"Jaune-sama." I noticed that we were in the hallway, far away from the cafeteria. I didn't even notice that we left the room…

"Jaune-sama, are you alright?" I looked down, having some interest into the ground, instead of Raphtalia. She put a hand on my shoulder, wanting me to look at her.

"Are you-"

"No, I'm not alright. My friends… they didn't even want to look at me anymore…" I could feel the tears trying to break through the dam in my eyes. I wanted to continue to be strong, but turns it out, I will never be strong.

"Am I really that pathetic? Am I really garbage that's been thrown aside?" I didn't see Raphtalia's face. But instead, I could see her hands move up to gently touch my shoulders. I could tell that she didn't want to see me like this. All of a sudden, I felt her head touch mine.

"Clear your mind,Jaune-sama. Is there someone telling you that you're garbage right now?" I shook my head slowly.

"Is there someone calling you pathetic right now?" I shook my head again.

"Then don't listen to those words then. I can tell, Jaune-sama. I can tell that you're strong. But if you continue to listen to those words, then it will only bring you down. While they might be words that you don't want to hear right now, I will be the one who will continue to give you _my _words…" I looked up at Raphtalia when she said this.

"I will and always continue to be by your side. If the world sees you as a liar and a weakling, then I will continue to stand by your side to tell them that they're wrong. And they will continue to be wrong, Jaune-sama." I wrapped my arms around Raphtalia, and hugged her.

A flood…

A flood of tears was all I could see, as my eyes finally gave into my emotions. What I wanted to keep hidden away from others, is finally starting to come out. She flinched a bit because of my sudden hug.

"J-Jaune-sama! You could've said that you-" She stopped what she was about to say after realizing that I was crying. At this, she placed her hand on the back of my head and started to rub it.

"Did the stares hurt, Jaune-sama?" I nodded my head, not wanting to speak anymore.

"Then let's share some of that pain, together…" I nodded my head again. This time, saying:

"Can you… let me stay like this for a bit?"

"Of course. Take as much time as you need."


	8. A Rose's Decision

**(Well, I guess this is going to be the chapter where everyone is going to hate me now…) **

"Ren, wake up. We're going to be late again…" My eyes slightly opened at the familiar voice that started to shake me.

"Nora…" Nora was already in her school uniform. I can't say that I'm surprised. She's been doing this ever since...

"Is Pyrrha up yet?" Nora shrugged her shoulders. I looked at her bed to see that she was still not awoken yet. I guess this was going to be one of _those _days again…

"Pyrrha, wake up. We're going to be late!" She would usually wake up to the sound of Nora's loud voice, but…

"I'm up, Jaune…" Yup, it's going to be one those days again. After the both of us had taken our showers, we began to put on our uniforms. Did Pyrrha not sleep well enough again? I can see the bags that are under her eyes and trust me, you don't want to know how she looks right now.

"Pyrrha, not enough sleep again?" She nodded her head slowly. She seemed to be close to closing her eyes while she was standing, but I had been quick enough to tap her on her shoulder to wake her up.

"Huh? O-Oh, sorry, Ren. I guess I wasn't able to get enough sleep again." I wasn't a fool as to why she didn't. No, this had started happening after…

"Ren, your hair's a bit messy again." Looking in the mirror, I noticed that my hair wasn't in the best of conditions. I sighed in aggravation.

"Sigh… don't worry about it. Let's just go to class already."

"Ren." Before I could open the door for the three of us, I heard Pyrrha call my name.

"What is it?" She was looked at Jaune's bed before looking at me. Nora, who was beside it, was looking down sadly.

"When should we… you know, speak to him again?"

"...I don't know."

"Ren, this was my fault, I shouldn't have came up with-"

"No, none of this is your fault. We are all to blame."

" But still, I feel like it was all my fault! I… only thought that Jaune would be better without us. He asked us to train him, but all we did was argue with each other about how we should do that. We were basically throwing all of the experience we had from our teachers, and threw it all over him! And what's worse, is that some of us had started to use our frustration on him! I wanted us to teach him, not make him suffer!"

"Pyrrha, remember, this was all of our faults. I'll admit it, we shouldn't have tried to force our teacher's teachings onto him. No one would be able to improve if you are constantly learning from others who have different fighting styles."

"I want him to improve on his own… but I guess my decisions were not the best. I asked all of you to leave him, to face his own problems on his own, to hopefully do what he thought was right... without us." All of what's happening to Jaune was everyone's fault. We shouldn't have decided to leave on him his own. He must hate us now…and I wouldn't blame him...

"Ren… I miss our leader…" Hearing Nora's sad complaint, I wrapped my arms around her. Nora's personality had changed the most. She wasn't her usual energetic self anymore. Instead, she was replaced with a Nora who was empty on both the inside and outside.

"I know Nora… we all do." I started to rub her back a bit to calm her down. She always acted a child. But right now, I have to make sure that she doesn't actually become one. We've all changed from our decision.

Pyrrha hasn't been doing that much with her training…

Yang had been a bit more quieter in her team…

Weiss… she was actually starting to miss Jaune. I know she doesn't show it, but I could tell she did with the way she was starting to act around all of her friends. Her studies were lacking a bit, and she wasn't yelling at Ruby anymore, in which she had decided to give her space because of the guilt that she was bearing...

Blake was… I don't really know how Blake feels about Jaune. They didn't talk much, but I think she had some respect for him because he didn't care for the boundary that separated Faunus and Humans.

And now, that only leaves Ruby…

She hadn't been talking to anyone recently. According to Yang, every time we were done with our classes, she had been locking herself inside their bathroom, crying until she fell asleep. Again, we shouldn't had convinced her to break up with Jaune. Ruby's fifteen years old, so I doubt she wouldn't be taking this harder on herself than anyone else. She had her first boyfriend, only to have to break up with him shortly…

And as for me, I can't even stop thinking about my our blonde leader. I tried to keep my mind clear in classes, but it's just not the same without our leader. I don't even know where he is right now. But where ever he is, I hope that he's okay.

"Pyrrha, after all of our classes, we're going out to Vale. We're going to bring back our friend again." Pyrrha looked at me with a sad smile. Probably hoping that we could find him again. No, not only just find him. We're just hoping that he could forgive us for our stupidity.

"And what if we can't find him?" Pyrrha asked me, uncertain to the extent where she was thinking that he wasn't even in Vale.

"Trust me, we will find him. I don't care if he doesn't forgive us. All I want to know is if he's safe and okay. Nora, are you coming?" She only nodded her head. Good. I can't stand this guilt any longer. We're all going to have to fix our mistake.

For the better of us all...

* * *

Classes hadn't been that much different than any other day. Team RWBY had began to not care for the lessons recently. Ruby always had her head down, Yang was always trying to cheer up her sister, Weiss was always rubbing her eyes from the lack of sleep she had, and Blake was always reading her book, not paying attention to the lesson at all.

As for our team, we tried our best to pay attention to the lesson without Jaune on our minds. We miss him, yes, but we don't want to lack in our studies. Jaune really had this impact on all of us. Without Jaune's presence, the bonds that we shared with one another, will only be broken apart even more. Classes weren't the same, and our friends weren't the same.

But right now, it was lunch time. All of us sat at our usual table with our plates in front of us. For the most part, it was quiet. Usually, when Jaune was here, everyone was happy and cheerful.

We deserved to be quiet.

We didn't deserve to have happiness, not with this painful guilt in our minds…

"Ruby, you should eat…" Noticing that Ruby wasn't eating with her food, Yang decided to speak to her again. She didn't respond to her, only interested with playing with her food with a spoon. Ruby rested her head on her hand with a depressed look.

"Ruby… please." Yang asked her again, this time, she scooped up some of the food and placed it in front of her mouth, only for Ruby to ignore her completely. At this, Yang sighed and gave up.

"Damnit!" After she had placed the spoon down, Yang had slammed her fist on the table in frustration. We were surprised, but Ruby kept up her depressed face. This wasn't right…

None of this was right…

"Yang, please mind that we are in a public area. Don't lose yourself to your now." Weiss, who wasn't even looking at her, had told her this. Yang wanted to say something, but she didn't…

She only calmed herself down in displeasure…

"Everyone, I was thinking… that we should talk to Jaune again…" Pyrrha had mustered up all of her courage to say this. From hearing her announcement, everyone at the table had looked at her, including Ruby.

"Can we…?" Ruby asked her in a depressed tone. She dropped her spoon and looked at Pyrrha with a bit of uncertainty in her eyes.

"Yeah, how would we even find him? He doesn't have his scroll on him anymore." Blake had closed her book to join in on the conversation. I didn't think she would have some interest in this, but I guess she didn't want her team to be like this anymore.

"It might be a bit of a stretch, but… I think we might be able to find him again. Our team is planning on leaving to Vale after classes and search for him. I was wondering if any of you were interested in joining up with us." Pyrrha looked nervous. Was she scared that no one else would want to go out and look for him?

"I am!" Ruby had instantly jolted from her seat and announced her thought. From being depressed, to being instantly interested into our search for Jaune. Even Yang was surprised from the sudden outburst from her.

"Yang, do you want to?" I asked her. She nodded her head in response.

"...If Ruby wants to, then I will go too. I'll admit it, without Jaune here, it's getting a bit boring." Yang started to stretch as she spoke her own mind.

"Do you actually believe that he's willing to forgive us? First we leave him, and now, we're just going to back to him like nothing happened?" I don't want to say this, but Weiss was right. He wouldn't be willing to forgive us easily. But still, I just want to know if he's okay. If I can know that, then I'm satisfied.

"Then what do you want us to do? Just continue to sit here and do nothing until he comes back? Yes, we did leave him, but I can't stand the fact that he's just out of lives now!" Pyrrha was beginning to yell at Weiss now.

I didn't think that this will play out this badly.

* * *

"For whatever we do Pyrrha, both of those decisions are bad. It _was _your idea that got us into this mess to begin with!" Stop it Weiss, stop fighting. Putting the blame on someone else does nothing but hurt them and yourself. I was the leader of team RWBY, and I couldn't even stop my own teammate from arguing.

"Yes, I'll admit it was my idea, but I didn't want it to be like this! All I wanted was for Jaune to find his own way of fighting! We can't force someone to fight like us!"

"So your idea was to just leave him there!? Alone to the point where he will just get put down by his classmates!?" Stop it… I don't want to remember his pained face. He looked at us, practically begging us to help him. But we didn't do anything... I clenched my fist in anger. This was my fault… If only I…

"Stop trying to put the blame on me! We _all _stood there and watch him get beaten! I didn't want to do anything because he always wanted to fight for himself! He can't continue to rely on us to protect him all the time! Yes, I wanted to help him, but-" Stop it, Pyrrha…

"You didn't right? That just proves how much of a bad teammate you are!" Stop arguing...

"Excuse me!?"

"Weiss! Stop trying to push the blame onto Pyrrha!" Yang joined in the argument.

Stop it…

"Yang, weren't you excited to see how much Jaune improves his skills after leaving him on his own!? I'm sure that he was getting sick of your lessons! Your lessons only involved him getting beat down until you were satisfied! No wonder he left because of you!"

"And what about you? You didn't hold back with the insults every time he failed your lessons! Have you ever thought that he wanted to leave because of _you_!?"

"I don't understand, why do you care about him Weiss!? I thought you were sick of him trying to make a move you! Hell, after we found about his transcripts, you were happy that "we were finally getting rid of that nuisance!" And now, all of a sudden, you want to put the blame on all of us!" Yang had stood up from her seat. I can't stand this anymore…

Why are we even fighting…?

"...If I knew that I would feel this guilty, then I wouldn't have decided on that as my action! Because of him… because of him…" Weiss didn't know what else to say about him…

_Just be quiet, Weiss…_

"I thought so. If you don't know what to say, then shut up and sit down!"

"Enough!" I slammed my hands on the table, gaining the attention of everyone at the table. With the loud conversations going on in the cafeteria, no one had heard the slam.

"Ruby?" I heard Yang call out my name. I can't stand this anymore. We argued when deciding on how to teach him, and we're still continuing this nonsense!

"Be quiet Yang! Stop yelling and sit down!" Listening to my demands, Yang sat back down in her seat.

"I'm… tired of this. Tired of this non-stop arguing! We did this with Jaune's lesson's,and we're still doing it even though he's not here! Yang made a mistake, Weiss made a mistake, Pyrrha made a mistake, I made a mistake, we all made a mistake! I was the one who decided to break up with him for Oum's sake! I felt like I wasn't being a good girlfriend when I didn't know what to do to help Jaune! We both weren't ready for a relationship! Just stop… just stop arguing!" I could feel tears on the corner of my eyes, but I didn't want to show them. I was going to be a huntress… I can't show tears in this type of situation…

I can't show tears…

I have to be strong… just like how dad told me about how strong mom was...

A strong huntress doesn't cry…!

_Jaune…_

"Was it my fault? Was I really not being a good girlfriend? Would he be happy with someone else other than me?" I felt Yang wipe the wet tears off of my face. No,

I'm not strong…

I'm not strong like Yang, and I'm not strong like mom…

"Ruby…" Yang started to comfort me by pulling me into a hug. I didn't want to be treated like a kid anymore, but still, I wrapped my arms around her and cried…

"...Ruby's right. We shouldn't be arguing. I don't want to destroy our friendship with one another." I heard Pyrrha speak again.

"We all had something to do with this, and blaming each other wouldn't help us at all." Ren, who had been quiet for the majority of this conversation, had decided to speak.

"Yeah, all of this arguing is started to make me sad…" Nora, who strangely didn't speak at all, decided to speak up. She wasn't the same energetic Nora that I knew before.

"I'm not saying this like I didn't like Jaune at first, but seeing each other like this has make me want to bring him back." Blake had said this. I started to raise my head up a bit when I heard her say that. I was starting to smile a bit, noticing that everyone was wanting to see Jaune again. Wiping my tears away, I looked at Weiss, who had her arms crossed and eyes closed.

"...Fine, I'll admit it. I… kind of miss Jaune."

"We all knew that." We all said, simultaneously. At this, she opened her eyes in shock. Did she not know that we were watching her too?

"Wh-What? H-How did you all know?" We all began to laugh at her. I think she's wasn't aware of what she was doing after Jaune left. The signs that she gave away only proved that she missed him as much as us.

"So, is everyone willing to look for Jaune after all of our classes?" I asked everyone. Looking at everyone, they started to smile at each other and nodded their heads. We were all coming together again. I don't know if Jaune will be happy to see us again, but all I want to do is apologize. We can't just sit here and do nothing while Jaune continues to suffer.

"Let's go find Jaune, Ruby." I smiled at Yang after she said this. I'm happy that we were all thinking like a team again. But more importantly…

I was happy that I was going to see Jaune again…

All of a sudden, the doors to the cafeteria had opened. It could've been Professor Goodwitch, who usually gives us an announcement, and we all had to silence ourselves to listen to her…

But it wasn't Professor Goodwitch…

But the entire cafeteria had went quiet anyway...

It was… Jaune who came passed those doors…

Along with… a Faunus girl that I've never seen before…

"Is that...Jaune?" I heard Pyrrha ask, as we continued to watch Jaune and the girl get their food and sat down. Was she… his new girlfriend? N-No, that can't be. While Jaune's a bit adorable at some times, but…

Could he have really moved on that fast…?

"Look, his shield... It's… not the Crocea Mors anymore…!" Blake pointed out his shield, which was indeed, not the same shield that he had been previously using before. It was smaller than his usual shield, so why change it?

"Who's that girl? Has anyone seen here here before?" Everyone shrugged their shoulders at Yang's question. We continued to watch the two of them talk to each other in silence. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but I think they were having a good time.

"She's starting to… feed him?" Weiss said in shock. Feeding… each other? I didn't do that with Jaune…

It was until I saw Cardin, who was with his friends, and was also carrying a tray of food towards Jaune, that I needed to do something. Getting up from my seat, I began to walk towards Jaune's table until…

"Ruby, wait! Let Jaune handle this!" I felt Pyrrha grab a hold of my arm.

"What? This is our chance, Pyrrha! We can't just let Cardin do whatever he wants anymore!" I yelled at her. She started to shake her head, disagreeing with my point.

"I-I want to as well, but… what if he doesn't want to be saved? What if he hates us even more?"

"Then I'll take my chances. I won't let Jaune suffer like this anymore!"

"Wait." Before I could roughly take my arm away, I felt Pyrrha pull on my arm harder.

"I'll go with you. I'm not going to let you do this on your own. That bastard needs to have what's coming to him." She smiled. In return, I smiled back.

"Let go!" Everyone at the table heard the screams that came from Jaune's table. Dove… he was starting to pull on that girl's ears! And…

Jaune was covered in food…

Clenching my fist, I started to walk towards Jaune's table. I was starting to get sick Cardin's treatment to the other students. Especially when it comes to messing with Jaune!

"Caaaardin!" Before I could do something, Yang had walked passed me with her hair flared up. I don't know if he could hear us, but if Yang's going towards them, then why wouldn't they notice her?

"Jaune-sama!"

Everything had happened in a second...

Cardin was holding his hand out in pain from punching Jaune, the girl had skillfully twisted Dove's arm, and pushed him away from her. Not only has this stopped both mine and Pyrrha's tracks, but it had also stopped Yang. Was she just as surprised as we were?

"Jaune!" Cardin had began running at Jaune with his other fist raised high stupidly. But before he had the chance to punch him, the girl had instantly caught his arm. While I couldn't hear what they were saying, I could tell that the girl was starting to get pissed off. I knew this because I saw she was starting to put pressure on his arm. Hard enough to put him on his knees. Wanting to get closer, I started to move up a bit.

"He's… a damn liar! He faked his own transcripts, and even dared to come here when he's this weak! What makes you think that Beacon Academy needs this pathetic-"

"But did he harm anyone in the process? Did his lie do anything that could've potentially risk the lives of his teammates? And what makes you think that this school needs someone like you? A person who will only pick on the weak is the closest definition to being pathetic! You might call Jaune-sama a weakling, but from what I see from him, he is a person who's strong because of his kindness…" That's right, Jaune wasn't weak. Sure, he wasn't good at fighting, but I know that he's strong!

After she said this, the girl had taken Jaune's hand and began to walk towards the cafeteria door. Yang, who was in front of her, had moved out of her way. We couldn't see Jaune's face because he was looking at the floor. Does he hate us to the extent that he doesn't even want to look at us?

"I'll get you both back for this! I'll make your life hell, Jaune! Everyone will see just how weak and pathetic you are!" Cardin yelled. Hearing this, the girl had stopped walking. Looking back at Cardin with a serious look, she said:

"If he's pathetic and weak in everyone's eyes, then I would be the truth that would tell them that they're wrong..." After saying that, the two had left the room. But not without Jaune taking a glance at us, with sadness in his eyes. Does he… actually hate us?

"Cardin!" After they left, Yang, who was still fired up, had decided to take on Cardin. Looking at him, he was starting to laugh at her.

"What, finally deciding to take action now?" He chuckled. His friends had backed away from Yang, as they didn't want to deal with an angry Yang.

"You must have some balls doing that to him while we're here!" Her hands were clenched tightly. I knew she was ready to punch the life out of him. I need to stop her, before things get messy…

But what about Jaune…?

I need to speak to him, but Yang is about to go crazy...

What should I do…?

"You're talking about me having some balls, but look at you and your friends! You basically abandoned him! Not only that, you didn't even decide to help him from the others that were also bullying him!"

"...And that changes now! I'm going to teach you a lesson that you'll never forget!" Yang's hands were clenched even tighter. And they were also shaking as well. She was taking all of her guilt, and putting it into her fists

"You think Jaune's going to be your friend after all you've done to him!? Please, cry me a damn-" Yang was getting ready to attack Cardin with her full power…

"Yang, stop!" I yelled for Yang to stop, but she didn't listen. She only continued to add more power into her fist before striking down Cardin.

"Yang, stop!" This time, I used my semblance to quickly get to her. Reaching her in time, I grabbed her arm to stop her from punching Cardin. I have to stop Yang. She's planning on killing him! Feeling my arm, she started to calm down a bit. Because of calming down, the power that was put into her fist had fully vanished.

I could've used my semblance to reach to Jaune, but I didn't. I didn't want Yang to do something that she was eventually going to regret. But before I had to chance to say something, Yang, who's semblance had been turned off, had punched Cardin in the face…

Hard enough for him to be passed out on the floor…

We're going to be in trouble, aren't we...? Hearing the cafeteria's doors slam open, I heard Professor Goodwitch begin to yell at us. I can only hope that the punishment won't be too severe…

Jaune… I wonder what you're doing right now...


	9. A Miracle

**(Jaune will be sure to meet with Team RWBY and Team NPR in later chapters, don't worry. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing, and I hope everyone continues to enjoy it!)**

It was the next morning. It was also the day where Raphtalia and I have to go out for Headmaster Ozpin's mission. After yesterday, I kind of need this so I could stay away from Beacon again.

"Jaune-sama, where are the villages located at?" I was looking at the map that Headmaster Ozpin had gave us. The Grimm wouldn't be that much of a problem for us, it was just that the villages were a little far away from Beacon. Headmaster Ozpin said that the journey would take 3-5 days at most.

"I don't know the names of the villages, but we're going to have to bit out of the Residential District. I would suggest that we put our hoods on, so we don't draw any attention again in the streets. Just only until we reach the gate that leaves out of here." Raphtalia was going to need it more than me because she's a Faun-I mean Demi-Human. Covering her ears was simple, but I don't know if people would mind her tail that was sticking out of the hoodie.

"Raphtalia, how's the armor feel?" Yeah, before we left, Professor Goodwitch had given Raphtalia a breastplate to put over her hoodie that I've recently bought her, so she could be protected more easily. Speaking of armor, I think we might need to go look for a good blacksmith that provides some good quality armor.

"No problems with it so far. It's really nice of Professor Goodwitch to give me this breastplate." She smiled warmly at me. I smiled back at her in return. Hm, I think should buy her something nice in return for what did yesterday. Hm, I wonder what she-

"Jaune-sama, are you alright? Your face is red. Are you catching a cold or something?" I felt Raphtalia put her hand on my forehead before I could say something. She's… close!

"I… don't think I do." I couldn't do anything about my red face, but if she was touching my head to see if I had a cold then I should let her do her thing.

"You don't feel like your burning, so I think you're okay." I've noticed that her cheeks were a bit red as well.

"What about you? You seem red in the face as well." I touched her forehead, seeing if she also had a cold. My results were a bit hilarious. After she comprehended that I was touching her head, she let out a weird "wah!" sound, before moving away from me quickly. Like, really far away from me. I even saw her tail stiffened before she moved. Seeing this, I began to laugh. It's good that no one heard her. People would just misunderstand either way.

"Y-You don't have to t-touch me so suddenly!" She said, after walking back to me. Her face was still red and she kept her eyes closed. While she looked upset, her tail was wagging uncontrollably.

"Sorry, I just wanted to see how you would react."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Raphtalia. How about we get going already?" She pouted at me before she let out a "hmph!" sound with her arms crossed and walked in front of me. What? Did I do something wrong? And does she even know where she's going? Wait, why was I beginning to see her from far away now?

"W-Wait up, Raphtalia!" I began to run so I could keep up with her. How was she that far ahead of me already? She was only speed walking!

As I caught up to her, I noticed that she stopped to look at something. Whatever it was, she seemed to engrossed to it. Coming closer, I've noticed that she was standing in front of window that shows three televisions for display.

"Hey, Raphtalia, what's wrong?" Her usual smiling face had been replaced with worry. What was she even looking at?

"Jaune-sama…"

"Raphtalia, is something…" When I looked at one of the Tv's, I felt pressure build up within me.

This can't be happening…

"Raphtalia, let's go. Keep your hood on at all times. We can't risk anything anymore…" Grabbing her arm, I started to walk towards the direction that we needed to be.

"B-But Jaune-sama…" I didn't want her to continue to watch it. No, I don't want her to be worried about other things right now. It was better for me to look away as well. I couldn't stand this at all. She didn't deserve this. She did nothing wrong, and people will only continue to see as the bad person.

Because she's a Demi-Human…

"Let's go. We have a mission to do now." I can't waste anymore time. We have to leave the district, or else people will get suspicious of us. I gritted my teeth in anger.

"...Alright." With that, we continued to walk. The sooner we get out of the Residential District, the better it will turn out for us. I can't believe these people…

That man…

These racist people…

**Incoming News: **

"**Journalist in the Residential District had been sighted to be attacked by two students from Beacon Academy. One tall and blonde-haired male, and brown-haired Faunus female. While we don't know the entire story, we only know that the Faunus was the first to attack him, following with the blonde-haired male. It was also said that the Faunus had shown excessive violence towards the journalist after she didn't apologize to him after bumping into him."**

They all deserve to…

* * *

"Here we are, Raphtalia. Passed this gate, only lies the Grimm. While I was warned that some of them were a bit strong, we're going to have to kill them if we're going to get stronger." We stood in front of a huge gate that leads outside of the Residential District. I haven't personally been passed this point, so the unknown will only be there to scare us along the way. At least we have a map of the area.

"...Okay." Hearing this, I instantly turned to Raphtalia, who was too interested to the floor, other than the gate. She's already concerned about what she saw on the television. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. I don't want her to be depressed again…

"Don't worry about it, Raphtalia. I'm sure that when they hear the actual story, it'll all be over."

"But… what if they don't care about it? Just like my world, they don't care about the Demi-Humans. Jaune-sama… I'm-" I didn't want her to continue her sentence. I already knew where this going to begin with.

"You're not sorry." She looked at me, already looking reluctant to accept my words.

"Wh-What!? Jaune-sama, that's not what I was-"

"You're not sorry as to have met me. You don't even deserve to even be sorry in my opinion. Raphtalia, because of you, I experienced the fun that I was missing after those two months of torture. Because of you, I was able to learn of something that doesn't even exist in this world. Because of you, I was able to get this far. We both had made mistakes in our worlds, but meeting each other, that was never a mistake. It was more of like a miracle to me."

"Jaune-sama…" She looked at me, surprised to what I had just said.

"S-Sorry, I accidently spoke my mind too easily. Forgive me." She shook her head in disagreement. After that, she smiled softly at me.

"No, there's nothing wrong with it all. Instead, it only makes me want to stay by your side even more." After she said this, my cheeks started to feel a bit hot again.

"Raphtalia…"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm starting to get a cold…" We both laughed a bit before we walked towards the opened gate. This journey was going to be one of my longest…

My first journey to become a hero…

"Pi!" I heard Filo's chirp before we went passed the gate. She was currently inside the pouch that Raphtalia has right now. Raphtalia started to nervously laugh a bit.

"S-Sorry, I didn't want it to be lonely while we were gone."

"Don't worry about it. I'll have something else that I want to protect now." I smiled at her, and petted Filo. Without any warning, it flew up above me, and laid it on top of my head. It was a bit heavy, but I don't have a problem with it. We didn't have the chance to play with it often so I guess it would be best if we did take it along with us.

"Raphtalia… don't you think that it's growing a bit more quickly?" I asked her, troubled by the fact that it was almost as big as my head.

"Yes, it is a bit concerning, but if it's alive, then what's the problem?" I hummed in agreement. I'm probably sure that Filo came from Raphtalia's world too. I shouldn't be surprised at Filo's changes anymore.

"Pi!" It chirped in happiness. Well, as long as it's happy, then I don't have a problem. As we walked passed the gate, I saw something that looked odd…

_Something purple was coming straight at us…_

_And it was looked like it was some sort of barrier…! _

"Raphtalia, get down!" Quickly moving Raphtalia behind me, I braced myself for the impact that was coming towards us with my shield.

"J-Jaune-sama, what's wrong?" She asked me. Did she not see it? It wouldn't be hard to notice since it was coming straight in front of us…

Wait…

Where did it go…?

Looking back ahead of us, I didn't see the purple barrier anymore. What was going on?"T-The purple thing! Raphtalia, tell me that you saw that!" With her face red, she shook her head quickly.

"I-I didn't! Jaune-sama, there was nothing here to begin with!" Was I imagining things? There's nothing here but the forest ahead of us.

"Pi?" Filo had chirped as if it was asking a question. Was I beginning to understand bird now?

"S-Sorry. I must've been imagining things. It was nothing." Moving away from Raphtalia, I continued to walk forward. With the map, we shouldn't get easily lost in the forest. I'm going to have to be careful too. I don't know what's ahead, so being precautious is the best bet for survival.

"Raphtalia, you coming?" Noticing that Raphtalia was just standing there, I called out to her. Shaking her head, she started to run towards me to catch up.

"S-Sorry, I was just daydreaming." With the uncertainty in her voice, I doubt that it was just daydreaming.

"Raphtalia, something wrong?" Taking her hood off, I could see her ears being a bit droopy again.

"It was nothing, I swear! I was just…thinking a bit."

"Are you sure?" As I am concerned about Raphtalia, I don't want to force her to say something that she didn't want to say. Before she answered me, she looked towards the left of me. She must've heard something. Putting my shield up in that direction, I got myself prepared for the upcoming...

"Jaune-sama, look out!" In the corner of my left eye, I noticed something orange coming straight at me. Crap, I'm not going to be able to block it in time!

*Chomp!*

Um… what? I felt something on my left arm, so I went to look at it. And the results… were not what I was thinking.

"What the hell is this!?" Some orange ball was attached to my shoulder now. It had angry eyes and it had sharp teeth that was sinked into my hoodie. If it had sharp teeth, then why wasn't I feeling any pain?

"Are you okay, Jaune-sama!" She came to look at the arm that had the weird orange ball.

"Pi!" Filo was starting to look at the ball menacingly, almost as if it wanted to fight the stupid ball. The weird ball was still trying sink its teeth into my arm, but it never broke through.

"Yeah, it's just some weird orange ball that tried to attack me."

"Hold still, Jaune-sama." Backing away and unsheathing her sword, she was preparing herself to take it out.

While it was still on me…

"W-Wait, Raphtalia! Can you get it off first!?"

"Huh? O-Oh, of course!" She walked up to, and grabbed onto the orange ball. Having it in her hand, she started to squeeze the ball in anger. Its entire form was about be split in two from Raphtalia's strength.

"Raphtalia, are you… okay?" Raising her sword at its face, she looked at me with a smiling face. I have a feeling that there's something else behind that smile of hers.

"Of course I am! I'm just dealing with the stupid ball that dared to bite, Jaune-sama!" She started to squeeze it more and more after she said this. She's not okay at all. She's just using the damn thing as a stress ball now at this point!

"A-Alright then. Please, continue." She stabbed the orange ball in the eye, and it puffed into smoke. Look at that, it dropped some of itself on the floor. Now I was concerned for the other beasts that we're going to meet along the way.

…

…

…

Wait a second! What the hell even was this thing!? It wasn't a Grimm, so what the hell was this thing!?

"Raphtalia, do you know what that is?" Raphtalia picked up the balls droppings and looked at me.

"Huh? Yeah, these are balloons. I used to fight them a lot for practice at home. They were rare to find, so I had to wait and practice with Father until they appeared again. They also come in different colors, with the red ones being the strongest." So they come in different colors? A screen had popped up in front of my face and it showed that I was granted one xp. Wow, only one? We're not going to be levelling from these things at all.

…

…

…

"Raphtalia…" No, something was strange here…

"Yes?"

"You… said that you fought this thing when you were home, correct?"

"Yes, yes I did. Is there something wrong?" Her head cocked to the side in confusion, not understanding what I was going with.

"Raphtalia… why was that thing here?"

"What do you mean? You would mostly see these things at…" Her eyes widened, finally understanding what I was going with. This wasn't making any sense. Why was this thing even here? No, it can't be…!

"Jaune-sama!" Looking behind me, I noticed that we were surrounded by a lot of orange balloons. All of them were ready to pounce at us with their teeth.

This wasn't making any sense…

What was going on here…!? As I was trying to contemplate as to what was going on, I heard a voice whispering in my ear…

"**Miracles don't happen without a price…"**


	10. First Village Sighting

**(A/N)**

**So...where can I start? Well, I guess I can start with my appreciation to you all. I hope everyone doesn't get annoyed when I'm saying thank you a lot. I'm not that really familiar with a huge crowd, but thanks either way. For reading my story and reviewing it. The ideas you all come up with helps me think more easier too. I'm not saying everyone has to do it, but some would be definitely good. You all should basically know that I'm more influenced by some of your kind words than ideas too. Having more and more people come to read is really appreciated. Even though I suck at writing, you all have been helping me through this. And yes, even you people with those "other" kind words. Whether if you hate this story, you still came to read it. And for that, I thank you.**

**Now the other thing I have to say….**

**Experiencing loss for the first time has really screwed me up mentally. Especially when it was a family member that's been taking care of me ever since I was born. It's even sad when I don't even remember that much of how they took care of me. I just have to say this. While your brain might not remember the past, the feelings that's been burrowed deep within yourself will. It was a bit hard for me to think for some ideas and I was having trouble coming back to this again. But… I'm kind of back. Chapters will be a bit shorter until I get back into the hang of things. Thank you everyone for understanding. And better yet, thanks for reading this...**

* * *

"Raphtalia, we have to keep running! We can't keep wasting our time on them!" We managed to get rid of some of them, but because there was an army of them, I didn't want to take any second chances and wait there any longer. Raphtalia could easily take down a whole lot of them, but more and more kept coming. Being swarmed wasn't a option. We had to run.

"But we can't lead them to the villages!" She said this while swiping her sword at the closest orange balloon. Crap, she has a point. The villages were dealing with Grimm, and we shouldn't bring them another problem to their area.

"Raphtalia, do you have anything to distract them!?" Seeing a balloon jump at me, I raised my shield for something that it could bite on. After it bit the shield, I grabbed the balloon and threw it on the floor, finishing it off with my foot. If I can't use my sword, then I might need some other ways to attack our enemies.

"Illusion!" Using another one of the magic abilities, to my surprise, there was another Raphtalia just standing where she was. Running towards me, she grabbed my arm, and we ran together.

"What was that?" Looking back, I watched the army of orange balloons trying to bite at the other Raphtalia, only for them to go through them. Was that some kind of hologram?

"It's just as it looks. I've sent an illusion of myself for them to target on. We should have some time to run now. Jaune-sama, where to next?"

"O-Oh, right. Raphtalia, you can let go of my arm now." Noticing her arm that was roughly grasped over mine, she quickly took her arm away.

"Sorry, Jaune-sama." After running for some time, we finally stopped. Okay, this looks like a perfect time to look at the map now. Hm, how far did we run? Looking back, I couldn't see the gate that leads into Vale anymore.

"Jaune-sama, is there something wrong? Do you know where we're going?" Raphtalia stood next to me as I looked at the map. We have three villages to travel to. Two of them, which are the closest here, are the ones that Headmaster Ozpin wanted us to check out first. The third one however, is a bit farther out. Getting to the closest one is our best option.

"N-No. I… think we have to continue going forward." Before I started walking, I felt Raphtalia pull on my shirt. Looking back at her, she looked at me with doubt.

"Are you sure we're going the right way, Jaune-sama?"

"To be honest, I don't really know where we're at right now. Did we keep running straight, or did we run left? Or did we run right? Raphtalia, I think we're-" I felt her finger touch my lips, stopping me from saying another world.

"Calm down, Jaune-sama. We're not lost. We were running straight the entire time. I can still see the gate from here." She finally moved her finger away from me and I was able to speak again. Oh yeah, I forgot. She has enhanced senses...

"So, we _do _have to keep going straight?"

"Why are you saying that as a question?"

"I thought you were going to make me go quiet again." She giggled before walking in front of me. So, time to follow the leader I guess? Before continuing to walk, I noticed something that was off about her.

"Raphtalia, wait." Before she had the chance to talk, I grabbed her arm, but not roughly. There was blood moving down her arm. Well, it wasn't that much, but it was enough for me to notice the blood trickle from her arm.

"Raphtalia, what happened?" Rolling her sleeve up, I noticed that there was a bite mark on her shoulder. It wasn't deep enough for it to be severe… that's good.

"I'm… sorry, you're not hurt are you?" Did she think that I wasn't going to see this? C'mon Raphtalia, you have to be better than this...

"Raphtalia, you don't have to always worry about me. I'll be fine. What's more important, is your health. If you're not in good condition, then what would I do without you in the field? Just be more careful okay?" Raphtalia nodded her head with a tint of red on her cheeks. Using a medkit that Raphtalia had in her pouch, I was able to stop the bleeding. I rolled her sleeve down after wrapping a bandage around her shoulder.

"This wouldn't be that much of a problem if you had aura. That way, you don't have to worry that much about using bandages." She cocked her head to the side again. This time, her ears twitched in interest.

"Aura? Is that magic that you're used to?" I shook my head slowly.

"Not… exactly. I can't explain it well, but it's like a defense and offense mechanic that works in your body. It heals you, defend you, and you can use to boost some of your powers. My teachers said something like "it's the manifestation of one's own soul", or something like that. With enough training, you could unlock your aura."

"Jaune-sama, how did you unlock your aura?" I had a feeling she was going to ask me that. This was something I didn't want to bring up to her because of the fact that it will only make me remember the person who awakened my aura…

"Mine was… awakened by someone else."

"So someone else can awaken your aura?" I nodded my head. I'm glad that she's able to understand this so easily.

"Yes, but I don't really want to talk about it. Are you ready to move yet?"

"I have one more question: can you show me a demonstration?" I looked at her, confused as to what she meant by a demonstration.

"A demonstration?"

"Yes, a demonstration." How am I going to demonstrate aura to her? Well, I have something in mind, but I don't think she's going to like it. She could've seen my aura a bit when that orange balloon bit me earlier, but I guess she wasn't paying attention that much. Hm, did my aura get a bit stronger because of the shield? I didn't feel Cardin's punch yesterday, and I couldn't even feel something that bit me. Maybe it did then. Either way, I'm happy with it.

"Raphtalia, can you… cut my hand?" When I said that, she dropped her sword on the ground, and stared at me with her mouth agape. I knew she wouldn't like the idea. She wants to protect me, and here I am asking for her to cut me. I'm an idiot…

"Raphtalia, are you… alright?"

"Jaune-sama. Please, tell me why you want me to do that?" Picking up her sword again, she started to slowly walk towards me with a smile. Was she… angry?

"B-Because you asked me for a demonstration…?" She stopped right in front of me, still keeping that strange unnerving smile.

She's mad at me...

"I did. And why does this demonstration involve me cutting you?" Her face had instantly changed. From one that shows kindness to everyone, to one that looks like she was going to kill someone because someone stole her bike.

"...Nevermind, Raphtalia. Let's just keep going."

"I think we should do just that then." Maybe I shouldn't ask something as stupid like that. She cares about me, and I care about her. With what she did for me yesterday, I doubt that she would allow me to be harmed again.

* * *

"Jaune-sama, I can see the village from here!" I guess we were right after all. All we had to do was go straight. Now then, it's time that we figure out what's going around here. If there's Grimm around, then we're going to have to deal with them quickly.

"We should hurry. I don't want to waste another minute with those stupid orange balloons." Raphtalia began to giggle after I said this.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that you find those things dangerous. They weren't even able to penetrate through your hoodie." Yeah, they weren't. Because of my defense, they aren't able to hurt me. But Raphtalia doesn't have the same defense as me.

"Raphtalia, I'm only worried about you." Hearing me, she instantly stopped laughing, replacing her face, was a surprised look that was covered in red embarrassment.

"W-Worried about me!? J-Jaune-sama, you don't have to-" Not allowing her to finish her sentence, I rolled up her sleeve again.

"Raphtalia if you can get hurt by those things, then it's concerning to me. After we're done with the mission, we're getting armor for the both of us." She looked in my eyes for a couple of seconds before nodding. Instead of waiting for the mission to be over, I'm hoping that we can find a blacksmith in one of these villages. That way, it'll be better to not waste our time.

***Growl!* **

Hearing the menacing growls, I noticed that there was a bunch of Grimm in front of us. And it appears that we have some more Ursa and Beowolves to deal with. Here I thought we would be able to fight some stronger Grimm. Well, I think I should settle down a bit. I don't want to fight something that could easily kill us. We're going to have to take our time.

"Jaune-sama!" Getting into her usual sword stance, she prepared herself to fight.

"Let's go, Raphtalia!" Getting in front of her with my shield up, I was ready to protect her from anything. Looking at them, I've noticed that there's two Beowolves and one Ursa. An odd couple to see with one another, but we can't risk to have our backs turned so easily. We might need to separate them, so they won't be so coordinated in their attacks.

"Here I go, Jaune-sama!" Rushing in with her sword, she charged straight towards the Beowolves. Smart move. Because Ursa are so slow, taking out the Beowolves would be the first priority.

Seeing her movements, the Beowolves had separated from each other. Going after the closest one to her, Raphtalia swung her sword at it's head, killing it instantly. I knew these Beowolves wouldn't be that much of a challenge.

_Jaune:_

_Level: 17_

_Exp Gained: 45_

_Exp Until Next Level: 300_

Wait, forty-five Exp!? They didn't give us that much before! Before, they were only giving us like 10-20 Exp for every Beowolf! Why was it suddenly giving us something higher!? Wait, I shouldn't be distracted right now!

"Air Strike Shield!"

"What?" Not paying attention, she turned around to see the other Beowolf behind my green projected shield. I was lucky enough to stop the Beowolf from pouncing on her.

"Raphtalia, pay attention to your enemies!" She looked at me after I said this. First, she looked at me with gratitude, but then, it was quickly replaced with fear…

"Jaune-sama, look out!" Noticing a shadow casting over me, I quickly raised my shield up to block the incoming attack from the Ursa. The Ursa had punched the shield hard enough for me to be pushed back into a tree. Looks like I underestimated these things. I forgot that Ursa packs more of a punch than Beowolves.

"Are you alright, Jaune-sama!?" Raphtalia, who had quickly killed the Beowolf, had took off the arm of the Ursa in a single swing. This had made the Ursa wince out in pain. It wasn't enough to kill it, but having her do some damage was enough.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I felt some pain in my back, but it's nothing that my aura can't heal. While the Ursa was still screaming in pain, I heard loud footsteps coming towards us. And whatever it is, it was knocking down trees out of its way with no problem. Great, what is it this time!?

As the footsteps got closer to us, we were able to see a much bigger Ursa. It looked to be about almost bigger than the one that I faced when I was protecting Cardin! Was the one that we're fighting right now its mother or something!?

"Raphtalia, I hope you have some tricks up your sleeve! If you do, then we're going to focus on the smaller one, alright!?" Getting in front of her again, I raised my shield again. She didn't reply, as I heard her chant something.

"Hide Mirage!" She disappeared again. Hopefully, this would give us an advantage. They can't attack what they can't see, after all. I looked at the Ursa that was hiding behind the "mother" Ursa. I was confident that Raphtalia would be able to take them out from behind. All she had to do was…

Wait, what are they looking at? And why are they ready to strike at any moment? No, wait a second…!

"Raphtalia, dodge!" As the smaller Ursa swung its arm at the invisible Raphtalia, she was quick enough on her feet to dodge it. After rolling on the floor, Raphtalia looked up to see-

"Air Strike Shield!" Placing a green holographic shield in front of her, I was able to stop the "mother" Ursa from slamming her claws on her. But the holographic shield looked a bit dented. Crap, this thing looks stronger than it looks!

"Illusion!" Leaving a fake Raphtalia to stand there, she quickly rushed to my side. She didn't have any wounds, that's great. While they're distracted by the fake Raphtalia, we need to think of some kind of plan for this thing.

"Raphtalia, are you okay?" She nodded her head, as she looked back the two Ursa attacking her illusion.

"Yes, thank you, Jaune-sama. It seems that I have to be a bit quicker on my feet…"

"Don't worry about that now. We need to think of some kind of plan so we can take this thing down!"

"Jaune-sama, how about I try this?" Before I was able to get the chance to ask what she was planning, she swung her sword, not hitting anything. ...What exactly was her plan here?

"Um, Raphtalia? Did you… do something? Swinging the air won't-" All of sudden, the "mother" Ursa had started screaming out in pain. Okay, I'm glad that I have Raphtalia with me…

"It's called "Illusion Blade." While it hurt them physically, it hurts them mentally." Okay, if I was using my sword again, I was going to be using that so many times. Instead, I have to use a shield…

But who said you couldn't be creative with shields?

"Okay, if we're just using them as our test dummies, then could I try something out?" As the illusion Raphtalia disappeared, the smaller Ursa had started to charge at us.

"Now will be the best chance, Jaune-sama!" Alright then, how about I use both of my new shield skills more efficiently?

"Rope Shield!" As my shield changed its shape, I launched the rope at the smaller Ursa's foot, so I could wrap the rope around it. As the rope fully wrapped around the smaller Ursa's foot, it tripped on itself, causing it to fall over. Looks like this is turning out better than I thought.

"Air Strike Shield!" I called out the holographic shield in front of me, much to Raphtalia's surprise.

"Jaune-sama, what are you going to do with that?" Walking up towards the shield, I grabbed it with both of my hands. It's surprisingly light too.

"Everything is under control, Raphtalia." Walking up to the downed Ursa, I raised the shield above my head, and attacked its neck. Sadly, it didn't cut off its neck. Well, I guess that was worth a shot then.

"Raphtalia, you can take it down now. I'm going to have to look for other ways to attack with this shield then." Looking back at Raphtalia, I could see the visible sweat going down her face. Alright, alright, I guess what I did there was stupid.

"Understood." Not giving the smaller Ursa a chance to move, she sliced its head off with one swing.

_Jaune: Level 17 _

_Exp Gained: 50_

_Exp Until Next Level: 205 _

"Now all that's left is the "mother" Ursa." Huh, it looked like it was still under the influence of Raphtalia's attack. Well, then it's time we finish it off then.

"Raphtalia."

"Understood, Jaune-sama." Who knew that the illusion sword was capable of doing this much mental damage to Grimm? If that's the case, then using that would be more beneficial than it looks.

"Here, some leverage." Using Air Strike Shield again, I made a platform for Raphtalia so she can jump high enough to kill it.

"Hiya!" As she jumped off of the shield, she went through the Grimm in a clean swipe. Man, Raphtalia's strong. What she doesn't make in defense, she makes in offense. I'm going to have to find some materials so I could upgrade my shield again. Hm, I wonder...

"Raphtalia, can you cut off one of the Ursa's claws? When we get to the village, I want to see if I can use that as material for my shield." Her ears perked at my idea.

"Sure, Jaune-sama!" Bringing up her sword toone of the "mother's" nails she cut off a small piece of it for me to carry.

"Here you go, Jaune-sama." Handing me the small piece, I thanked her and put it in my pocket.

"Alright, Raphtalia, it's about time we greet the local villagers." I was in a happy mood today. With Raphtalia by my side, we'll be able to take on nearly everything. I don't think there's nothing that could ruin my mood.

_Jaune:_

_Level: 17 _

_Exp Gained: 200 _

_Exp Until Next Level: 5 _

…

…

…

Nevermind, I think this whole leveling system was going to get on my nerves…

**504:29:40**

**The clock's ticking even faster...**

**(A/N) **

**Another Note: **

**And before someone asks, yes, I'll change some of the Grimm around so they won't be easily killed. Having the Grimm's looks is another thing I'm thinking about. I'm going to have to think of their looks and weaknesses. Great… some more stress on my hands...**

**But hey, that doesn't mean that I'm open to suggestions! (Just don't overboard, okay?)**


	11. The World's a Mystery

As we walked into the village, we noticed that there were many people scurrying around the village to evacuate. At least they're smart enough to evacuate the area before the Grimm show up. This place… doesn't look like it has a blacksmith. Maybe this was a village for producing food and supplies.

"It looks like they're in a hurry to leave…" Raphtalia kept staring at the people that were trying to get food from their houses, and put them into a bag for travelling.

"Let's hurry and find someone who knows about the Grimm. The quicker we do this, the more time we have to see the other villages."

"Huntsman, oh dear huntsman!" Before we had the chance to walk, a man in his middle ages had ran in front of us. Due to the random guy running in front of us out of nowhere, Raphtalia moved back a bit in shock. He started to catch his breath before saying anything.

"Oh Huntsman, you must save our village! The Grimm! The Grimm are coming for our precious family!" I can get the panic, but please, don't scream when we're right in front of you…

"S-Sir, calm down! Can you tell us how you know the Grimm are coming?"

"We have seen tracks that lead to our village! Please, save our village! We'll give you anything that you want after this!"

"Can you show us the tracks? It'll be a great help if you did." Before anything else, we should hurry and try to figure out where these tracks came from. If we did, then it'll be a lot more easier to find these Grimm. But it's odd. Why would Grimm come close to around here, and not attack with the chance?

"Sure! Please, follow me!" We followed the man to where the tracks had been first seen. He didn't follow us that far because he said that he was scared to continue. Well, I guess I can't blame him. The tracks weren't that far from the village, but we were able to tell that there were tracks that had stopped near the village.

"Jaune-sama, what are you thinking?"

"It just seems… odd. Why didn't the Grimm attack first?"

"Yes, that does seem odd…" These tracks… they seem more thinner than most Grimm's tracks. Beowolves and Ursa tracks are much larger than these. Could it be some other kind of monster that came from Raphtalia's world? This might lead to a huge problem now.

"Jaune-sama, these tracks… don't they look like that they came here recently?"

"We're going to follow them, Raphtalia. If they are recent, then we're going to have to get rid of these Grimm as fast as possible."

"Understood." Just by that one word, we began to walk forward.

* * *

"Now!" Moving away from a Beowolf, I granted Raphtalia the opportunity to strike it down.

"Eat this!" Cutting the head clean off, the Beowolf was killed. Ever since we started following the tracks, we've been encountering some Beowolves along the way. Luckily, there wasn't any Ursa around. Strange, but I guess that's alright then. Currently, I'm level 19. Yeah, we've encountered so many, we were able to level up from them.

"Raphtalia, aren't you level 24 right now?" If I did my math correctly, she should be level 24 right now.

"Sadly, no. I'm level 22 right now. Why, is there something wrong?" I looked at her level that was above her head that said that she was actually level 22. So she's getting less exp than me? It must be because she's a higher level than me. Well, if she's levelling up, then there's no problem.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know our status right now." Since there's nothing around, I think I should look at the shield's abilities again.

"Oh wait, I forgot!" Getting rid of the screen, I pulled out the Ursa claws that we had recently defeated.

"Are you going to use that for an ability?"

"It's worth a shot, I guess. I want to know if I gain any ability from the Grimm." Inserting the Grimm claw into the green gem on my shield, a screen had popped up in front of me.

_Error _

Error? Didn't the claw go inside the shield? Why wasn't it giving me an ability right now?

"Raphtalia, I just got an error screen." She walked next to me to look at the screen, only to be shocked as much as me.

"An error? I haven't seen this before. Did you do something wrong?"

"All I did was insert the claw into the gem like it said I should! Aw man, I was kind of hoping for a new type of shield that gives me an ability of the Grimm. Something like an Ursa shield would be nice…"

_Ursa Shield: _

_Defense:1500_

_Ability: Grants the user huge amounts of defense. _

_No other stats had been changed._

All of a sudden, the error screen disappeared and my shield had changed into the mask of the Ursa that we had killed earlier. While I wasn't fazed by that, I was shocked at the fact that this shield granted me that much of a boost.

"It changed!?"

"Was it because I gave it a name? It wasn't on the shield's skill tree before."

"Is that so? It might be because the monsters from this world are different from my world. You might be able to expand your abilities because you're here, Jaune-sama." Expand my abilities, huh?

"Jaune-sama! Where's Filo!?" Raphtalia's sudden scream had scared the crap out of me. I didn't expect her to yell while she's right in front of me.

"Where's Filo? Isn't it right on my…" I touched the top of my head to touch Filo, who had been resting on my head the entire time, only for the bird to be missing…

"Oh my god, Filo!" Did it fall from my head when we were moving? Crap, why didn't I notice this sooner!?

"Jaune-sama…!"

"Raphtalia, did you find it?" I turned and grabbed Raphtalia's shoulders, who didn't mind it strangely. Instead, she was pointing at something behind me.

"Jaune-sama, Filo…" I turned to look at what she was looking at, only for something to shock both me and Raphtalia…

"Pi!" The missing bird, Filo had been standing right behind us, waiting for us to move to our next destination. She wasn't missing at all. So she was with us the entire-

"Filo, what happened to you!?" I yelled in shock. Filo, who was almost the size of my head, had increased in size again. This time, she was as tall as a horse!

"So you're a Filolial, Filo?" Raphtalia walked up to the full grown pink bird and started to pet it's fur. Am I the only one who's shocked, or is it just me?

It might just be me...

"Raphtalia… why aren't you shocked?" She looked at me and stopped petting Filo. She doesn't seem to be fazed, so it might just be me who's shocked...

"Huh? Oh, I am. I'm shocked that Filo was actually a Filolial this entire time!" She started giggling a bit before she started petting it again. I looked at her with the most deadpanned expression that I had ever made.

"Raphtalia, it was the size of my head not even two days ago…"

"Hm, it does seem strange that it's growing fast. I wonder why though…?"

"Raphtalia, what are we going to do with Filo now? We can't hide Filo in our room anymore!" I don't even want to know what would happen if Filo kept growing. It could even be the size of a dragon if it continued to grow!

"I… don't know. I don't want to say goodbye to Filo though…" Both her and Filo had stared at the ground in sadness. Wait, it could understand what we're saying? It's either I'm crazy, or Filo's just sad because Raphtalia's sad. I'm going to go with my second choice…

"We'll… think of something. For now, let's go continue to follow the tracks."

"...Alright then." Letting go of Filo's fur, she started to walk up to me again.

"Pi!" Before we continued to walk, Filo had stopped us in our tracks by standing in front of us. She's really fast…!

"Pi!" It looked like it wanted us to do something. While continuing to make its usual 'Pi!' sound, it turned around, exposing its back at us. So what exactly does it want us to do?

"You want us to ride on your back, Filo?" After Raphtalia said this, Filo had nodded her head. I'm… thinking that she can understand us. Oh Oum, what bird had you given us?

"Jaune-sama, I think we should climb up now." Wait, so we're going to use Filo for our transportation now?

"...Okay." After climbing onto Filo, I grabbed Raphtalia's hand and pulled her up to me. My results… were the same as usual.

"I-I have to wrap my arms around you waist?" She looked at me with... spiral eyes?I didn't think our eyes could even do that.

"How else are you going to hold on tight to me? Just wrap your arms around my waist and we'll-woah!" Before I was able to finish my sentence, Filo had started moving.

Really, really, really fast…!

"F-Filo, hold on a second!" As soon as Filo started moving, Raphtalia had instantly wrapped her arms around my waist with instinct. She was going to fall off if she didn't hold onto anything….

"P-Please, Filo, stop!" Hearing our voices, Filo automatically stopped and looked back at us. Don't you even dare look at us like that, Filo. I can tell that Raphtalia wasn't that much of a fan of this speed. If anything, I was kind of expecting that Raphtalia will be hurling-

"Huh?"

"Jaune-sama, is there something wrong?" With her arms still wrapped around my waist, she asked me with a voice of concern.

"I'm… not sick…?" Now that I just noticed it, I wasn't sick when I boarded the Bullhead with Raphtalia. And here, I'm not even showing the slightest amount of signs of being sick at all! Was I finally learning to adapt to transportation now!?

"You're not sick…?"

"N-Nothing, don't worry about it, Raphtalia." Her arms around my waist had tightened. Was she angry, or just concerned?

"Hey Filo, I think you should take us back to where we were. We had to follow the tracks, remember?"

"Pi!" Filo made her usual 'pi!' sound and looked at the ground. Wait, we were following the tracks this entire time? How long had we been moving!?

"Jaune-sama, look!" Looking at what Raphtalia was pointing at, I was greeted with the scenery of a huge, and wide open space in the forest. What should be Grimm, were birds that were resting in the middle of the area.

"What… are those things?" I asked, hoping that Raphtalia could answer.

"Pi!"

"They're Filolial, Jaune-sama! And there's so many of them!" So… these were the 'Grimm' that scared the villagers…? I won't lie, they're beautiful creatures, but I just can't hide the fact that I'm a bit upset right now.

"Filo… take us back to the village…"

"Pi?" I could already tell what Filo was thinking. 'Wait, so soon?' I won't blame Filo, I'm just upset at the fact that we were chasing these 'Filolial' tracks this entire time for the past 30-40 minutes! Well, at least we were able to level up though.

"Yes, Filo, we're going to have to tell the villagers that the 'Grimm' that they were talking about, was just birds that was scavenging around to find something to eat. The sooner, the better.

"Pi!" Turning around, Filo was ready to follow the tracks back to the village.

"Raphtalia."

"Yes, Jaune-sama?"

"I'm scared about the fact that monsters from your world, are coming to mine. I don't know the threats from your world, so we have to get stronger."

"...Alright. Just promise me that you won't go overboard, okay?" I smiled back at Raphtalia, reassuring her that I won't push myself too hard.

"Jaune-sama." Her voice sounded a bit more concerned than usual.

"Something wrong?"

"Do you… think that this had something to do with me coming here?"

"What do you mean by that?" I'm pretty sure that Raphtalia had no links to the weird monsters that we had been facing from the past. Like, how would Raphtalia tie into something like that?

"N-Nothing. Filo, let's go!" She dodged the question as quickly as she could. Even if Raphtalia had something to do with these monsters, I wouldn't blame her. Before I could ask her anything else, Filo had immediately started following the tracks with insane speed again.

I don't know why these monsters keep appearing. But if anything, we're going to have to be the ones that stop the violent ones at most…

But all of this could be discussed after everything is over. I'm sure that the other villages might have Grimm to slay, right? Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

Right…?


	12. Chapter 12

**(A/N) **

**Sorry. That's all I have to say for my inconsistent uploading. Thank you everyone for reading my story. Oh, and before I forget, I'm going to be thinking about rewriting chapter one, so it'll be ready in the next few days. I'm not feeling it anymore, so I want to fix it…**

**432:34:30**

**432:34:29**

**432:34:28**

I watched the timer continue to tick down. To be honest, I was afraid of what will happen when this timer hits zero. The help menu didn't actually help and I don't think Raphtalia would know something about it.

_Didn't this timer have time than over a month…? _

_This… came from Raphtalia's world, didn't it…? _

_Is… time moving faster there compared to our time…? _

"Jaune-sama, what seems to be the matter?" I didn't have any doubt that Raphtalia wouldn't notice me glaring down at the timer. I can only say that it concerns me a lot. "Raphtalia… does this timer seem _off _to you?" Saying that, her face turned into a expression of concern.

"Yes. I fear that something bad will happen when the timer stops and hits zero." Her tail and ears drooped downwards, showing how uncertain she was. Could I blame her? No. The lack of knowledge of something unknown is frightening.

After explaining the situation to the village of the Filolials, they were kind enough to let us stay around for a day and starting next day, we started to head out for the next village. But not before lending us a bunch of food that we weren't able to carry on our own. With the huge supply of food, we wanted to ask them if we could use a carriage along with a horse, but Filo wasn't supportive about the idea. With a few questions from the villagers about Filo, they allowed us to use a carriage with Filo being the one to pull it. Raphtalia felt like she should hold onto the rope that was wrapped around Filo, so I let her.

When we needed to fight Grimm, Filo would stop and we will fight. This went on for a few hours following the morning. It was still a bit sunny out, so if we can make it to the second village before night then we'll be fine. During our walk, we encountered so many Beowolves, that I was able to become level 21.

"Jaune-sama, I think I see the village!" Raphtalia pointed out at the village that was visible from far away.

"Let's hurry and help out then." It didn't look like Grimm was around, so I guess it should be safe to get there without any trouble. "Pi!" Without any warning, Filo started to rush towards the village.

"F-Filo! H-Hold on a second!" Raphtalia, who didn't have any control of Filo anymore, was trying to hold onto something that was on the carriage. Crap, if this keeps up, then the carriage would most likely be destroyed.

"Filo, stop!" Hearing my raised voice, Filo immediately stopped. Oh. I didn't think that would work on Filo. I was expecting that Filo would just keep moving.

"P-P-P" Was she stuttering? How can a bird stutter like that? You know what? I'm not going to be surprised anymore. Anything that changes from Filo shouldn't faze me anymore.

"Pi!" In a split second, Raphtalia's and my own vision had been clouded by white smoke. After the smoke cleared and after the consistent coughs, we were able to see again.

"Raphtalia…"

"Jaune-sama…" We both called out each other in bewilderment.

"Why, Raphtalia….? Why does Filo keep changing...?!" In place of Filo, was a even more bigger Filolial...

"Fwa!" Filo's learned a new word other than "Pi?!" Okay, forget about not being fazed anymore! Sooner or later, I feel like Filo is going to be the size of a frickin Elephant!

"I-I'm sure there's a reasonable a-answer for this…"

"You're not even sure either! Raphtalia, what kind of bird did your parents give you?!"

"You're looking at the Filolial that came from the egg, Jaune-sama!"

"That's not what I meant!"

"It seems… empty." It didn't look like there was anyone here. It just seems… empty. Not a single person was inside the village. Well, here's to hope that they are inside the houses. We had Filo guard the carriage so nothing would even dare go against a bird like Filo.

"Hello? Anyone here?" With Raphtalia behind me, I knocked on the closest door that was near us.

Nothing.

Not even a single response.

Knocking a bit harder, the door opened slightly. Now if I was alone, I wouldn't even think about going inside a house that mysteriously opened on its own, but since I'm with Raphtalia, I think we'll be alright… I hope.

"Jaune-sama…!" Before I could open the door, Raphtalia had quickly grabbed the handle of the door and slammed it closed. Looking at her, I could see that she was covering her nose.

"Raphtalia, what's wrong?" She looked like she was going to hurl right here and now. Was there some sort of food that smelled bad?

"Jaune-sama… don't open that door…" With those words, I could feel a tingle in my back. I was slightly frightened with how serious she sounded. Whatever she smelled… it wasn't good. And if it wasn't good for Raphtalia to smell, then… no, it can't be…!

"Raphtalia, were there…" She only nodded her head.

"Human blood… and it smelled fresh as well." My eyes widened in shock. No, that can't be!

_Were we… too late?_

"Filo, why are you here?!" Snapping out of my thoughts, I heard Raphtalia call out Filo, who was in the middle of the village with the carriage. "Fwa!" Filo looked straight ahead, showing us that there was something found. Going to Filo, we checked what Filo had been looking at.

"What's… this supposed to be?" It was a sign. A sign that was written in a completely different language. It was strange. The sign was outside of the village, too. And what's worse, was that I couldn't read it.

"Raphtalia, can you read that sign?" Raphtalia looked at the sign for a second, before reading it outloud.

"It says: "Danger, keep out…" I don't understand, why is this important, Filo? It's just a keep out sign." So the sign was in a language that Raphtalia could speak. If Raphtalia could read the language, then...

_This village is not from Remnant…_

"Raphtalia, let's look around a bit more. Some of these… houses might contain some information as to what happened here." Raphtalia looked reluctant of the idea for exploring the houses, but she decided to keep her mouth closed.

"...Alright. Just be careful, Jaune-sama." It's time to scout the area now. I… think the first place we should look at should be the house with the-

"Fwa!" Before I could move to "that" house again, I felt a huge tug on my shirt. And to my surprise, it was Filo who had stopped me. "Filo, what's wrong? I promise, we'll be right-" Looking back at Filo, our trusted Filolial had shook its head in disagreement? Now that I think about it, what gender was Filo? You know what? I think I should worry about this later.

"Fwa!" Filo tugged on my hoodie harder, pulling me away from the house. Raphtalia, who was looking around the house, had seen this.

"Filo! Don't pull on him so hard! You'll hurt him!" When she arrived at my side, she grabbed a hold of my arms. Wait, I know this moment! This is the moment when I'm going to be turned into a tug of war rope!

"Filo, let go of him!" Raphtalia, who had crazy amounts of strength all of a sudden, had started to pull on my arms harder, while Filo was still pulling on the back of my hoodie.

"Fwa!"

"Don't you dare look at me with those glaring eyes! I said let go of him!"

"Fwa!"

" .Filo!" Okay, this was starting to hurt now. I think Raphtalia's going to pull out my arm at this point.

"O-Okay, both of you, stop pulling on me! It's starting to hurt now!" Hearing my plea, Raphtalia had let go of my arms, and I was sent flying towards Filo. I only felt Filo's feathers on my back after I made collision. Filo's really soft...

"S-Sorry, Jaune-sama! I'm sorry about Filo. She's been acting strange ever since we've got here..." "She" huh? Explains why I was in the tug of war fight. My sisters always did this with me when they wanted to do something with me. It's a shame that they didn't agree with one another a lot. Well,either way, information is being put into my non-existent notebook.

"It's alright. Did you find anything?" Before Raphtalia could speak, I felt Filo begin to tug on my hoodie again.

"Filo, what's wrong?!" She only said "Fwa!" as she continued to pull on my hoodie. Alright fine, I guess I should let her drag me. If Filo knows something, then I guess we should go take a look then.

"Filo…" Raphtalia's tail started to wag uncontrollably this time. Was she getting upset again?

"It's fine. I think we should see what Filo wants." Her tail stopped wagging when I said this.

"B-But… getting dragged though?!"

"I know, I know. I'll put up with it for now." Raphtalia looked like she was about to say something, but she chose to close her mouth again. Filo continued to drag me until we stopped at some sort of gate that was not that far away from the entrance.

"Alright Filo, what is it that you wanted to show us?" I asked as Filo finally let go of my hoodie. Filo only looked at the gate that was-

"Jaune-sama, was this gate always here?"

"I… don't know." The gate… it was destroyed. As to how…

_Something clawed its way over the gate…_

_Claw marks that were filled with human blood on the wall…_

"These marks… are these Grimm marks…?!" Raphtalia ignored me, only to place her hand on one of the claw marks, only for her hand to be tinted with human blood.

"These… look smaller than those Grimm marks, Jaune-sama…" Smaller than Grimm claw marks? Then what could've made this much damage? Could it be from a monster from Raphtalia's world?

"If they were, then the claws would've went through the gate with ease. This gate doesn't look strong enough to keep Grimm away from inside the village."

"..." I didn't say anything. I was too busy trying to figure out what could have possibly do something as savage as this. The Grimm was the obvious answer, but…

_Why would the villagers keep a Grimm species inside the village…?_

"Jaune-sama, I don't know what could've caused this, but I do know one thing." Raphtalia looked at me with a serious expression.

"And what's that?"

"The sign… Jaune-sama, do you think there could've been another reason for that warning sign?"

"Um… all there is to it, is to keep people from following that direction. There could've been Grimm pack if you continued down that path. How could there be any other reason than that?"

"...The dead bodies, the fresh human blood, the claw marks. Jaune-sama, I don't think the warning sign was there to keep people from following that path."

"...What? That doesn't make any sense! Then what would've been the purpose of the warning sign then?!"

"To keep people from coming inside the village, Jaune-sama…"

_What…? _

Before I had the chance to say anything, a scream-no, a shriek had made its way into our ears.

**GRAAAAAAAAGH! **

_It was loud..._

_It was close…_

_It was threatning all that was close to it…_

_And most of all…_

_It sounded human…_

"...What was that?" I asked Raphtalia, who was holding onto her racoon ears in agony. I won't lie, my ears were still ringing a bit, but I could still hear a bit. Before Raphtalia had the chance to answer me, trees that were close to the front entrance had started to break down. Whatever it was, it coming straight for us!

"Raphtalia, we're leaving!" Without a second thought, we both climbed onto the carriage that was still connected to Filo.

"Filo, no matter what, DON'T STOP RUNNING!" Hearing me, Filo started to move fast. Taking the destroyed gate entrance in front of us, we were getting away from that village.

Whether or not we were getting chased…

We didn't even think about turning back…

Not with what could hidden beyond these trees...


	13. Good Job

"Keep going Filo, we have to make sure that we lose it!" Raphtalia yelled in panic. While we did leave the village, we still don't know if we left the creature behind at the village. What the hell even was that creature?

Filo continued to guide us through the woods without stopping. The only thing that we needed to do was keep going until we're sure that it was gone. We must've went into that monster's territory if it wanted to chase us out of the village.

"Alright Filo, I think we're safe." After looking behind us to see if "it" was still chasing us, I told Filo to stop in her tracks. Stopping, I looked around to see if we could see a place to relax at. Since the sun was setting, it would be best if we found somewhere to camp. Man, this journey has been one of my most stressful one's.

"Raphtalia, nothing fell out of the carriage, right? We're going to need the supplies for camping, now."

"I hope not. The ride was a bit bumpy, so I think that some of items could've gotten damaged. I'll go check on them right now!" After watching Raphtalia go into the back of the carriage, I walked in front of Filo and started to pet her fur. Because she was so big, I couldn't reach the top of her head. When my hand settled on Filo's fur, I felt my entire arm get sucked into it.

"G-Good g-girl." Bringing my arm out, I decided to pet the tips of her fur. Feeling my hand smoothly go into motion, she did her usually "Pi!" and rubbed her head against me.

"Ahem." Filo and I looked back at Raphtalia, who was standing there with her hands on her hips. With her tail swaying left and right in a aggressive motion, she looks at us with a glare. Sweatdropping, I stop petting Filo.

"Is… there something wrong, Raphtalia?"

"Fwa?" Are… are you saying that in a questioning way, Filo…?

"Nothing, Jaune. Nothing at all. I just wanted to tell you that the tents were damaged a bit and the sleeping bags are still fine." While she crossed her arms in disappointment, she kept her glare focused on us.

She didn't say "Jaune-sama" like she usually does…

Um, I think I should get out of this situation right now...

"G-Great! I'll… go ahead and prepare the stuff right now." Walking to the back of the carriage, I went to go get the sleeping bags prepared, Raphtalia walked to speak to Filo.

"Hey Raphtalia, where do you think we should set up at?" That's strange, why isn't she saying anything?"

"Raphtalia? Are you there?" Walking to the front of the carriage, I went to see what Raphtalia was doing. Was she upset at me so much so, that she didn't even want to talk to me?

"Grr!" Standing in the front of the carriage, was Raphtalia and Filo glaring at each other. With such negative emotions shown to one another, a spark of lightning had been created between the two of them. I don't know how I can explain this, but I think that Filo is looking a bit smug there…

Yeah, I'll just go back to preparing the sleeping bags then…

* * *

"Jaune-sama, are the sleeping bags done?" Laying down the last sleeping bag, we were ready for the night. Yes, the sleeping bags were ready and done, but there's still one thing that bothers me.

"Let's take turns sleeping, Raphtalia." It's all about being careful while we're in the forest. If we were to just sleep, then the Grimm would be able to make us their next meal without a fight.

"Then allow me to watch over you while we sleep, Jaune-sama."

"Sorry, but I think I should watch over you, Raphtalia. Look at you, you have some bags under your eyes already." Reluctant with the idea, she was quick to respond.

"But I don't need any rest, Jaune-sama! Please, allow me to be on the lookout!"

"Raphtalia, wouldn't your performance in the battlefield become worse if you didn't get enough sleep?"

"Y-Yes, b-but what if-" Reaching for the top of her head, I started to rub her hair with a gentle smile on my face.

"Raphtalia, be sure to sleep peacefully. I'll wake you up if I hear anything out of the ordinary." She wanted to say something. Something that would try to convince me to sleep and let her watch over the night for a bit. But she didn't. Instead, she continued to look at me with an embarrassed look on her face.

"...A-Alright, then." After saying that, she went into her sleeping bag. While she did that, I sat on a log that was conveniently right next to her.

"Jaune-sama?" With half-lidded eyes, she called my name again. Her soft voice had drawn me to look at her nearly sleeping resting face.

"Yes?" With her ears twitching in delight from the sound of my voice, she smiles.

"Can you… pet my head again?"

"Sure." I laid my hand on the top of the her head, between her racoon ears, I gently pet her head. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to be enveloped with the delicate head pats.

"When I was younger, I was always awarded with headpats from my parents. When I helped clean the house, when I won my first battle, they always patted me on the head and said "Good job, Raphtalia". Jaune-sama… when we first went into battle, and when we continued to fight through these monsters called Grimm… did you ever think that I did a good job? Do I deserve to be your sword? " When she asked me this, she rose up from her sleeping bag a bit, and looked into my eyes, waiting patiently for my answer.

Do I trust Raphtalia so much so, that I would leave all of my protection to her…?

"_You might call Jaune-sama a weakling, but from what I see from him, he is a person who's strong because of his kindness…" _

"_If he's pathetic and weak in everyone's eyes, then I would be the truth that would tell them that they're wrong..."_

"_While they might be words that you don't want to hear right now, I will be the one who will continue to give you my words…" _

"_I will and always continue to be by your side. If the world sees you as a liar and a weakling, then I will continue to stand by your side to tell them that they're wrong. And they will continue to be wrong, Jaune-sama." _

"Raphtalia…" She continued to look in my eyes, eager to know what I think about her.

"You did a good job, Raphtalia. I can and will always rely on you. From young to old age, from life to death, I will always rely on you. An Arc never goes back on their word." The distance between us had closed as I felt Raphtalia wrapped her arms around my neck into a hug. Hearing slight sniffles, I could tell that she was tearing up right now.

"Thank you so much…" I started to rub her back slowly.

"You're welcome… and thank you, too." Before Raphtalia could say another thing, we both felt something heavy push between us. Based on how soft that "something" was, we could already tell who it was.

"Fwa!" Filo, who had been awake this entire time was trying to nudge in between the two of us. At this, I started to laugh. "Yes, you did a good job too, Filo. If you weren't here, then there was no way we would've lost that thing." Putting her fur again, she celebrated with "Fwa!" again.

"Don't be so needy, Filo." Raphtalia said to Filo with her arms crossed, showing how disappointed she looks. Filo, in return, looked back at Raphtalia with a smug look. How can a bird even look smug?

"Alright then, it's time for you two to catch some sleep."

"Jaune-sama-" Hearing a twig snap, Raphtalia instinctively got up and unsheathed her sword. Seeing this, I raised my shield up, ready for the upcoming attacks from the Grimm. Filo also looked into the direction of the sound and looked ready to pounce on the Grimm. Um, would Filo instantly kill a Beowolf with her size? Hmm… I'll jot that down for a experiment in the future...

"W-Wait, a minute!" Coming out of the bushes, came out a girl with blue hair in pigtails that looked to be the age of 16. She also wore a blue and white frilly dress which resembles the look of a proper wear for a princess.

"State your business. Are you a thief?" Raphtalia, who still had her weapon unsheathed, asked her this. Seeing her hostile look, the girl raised her hands above her head, showing us that she meant no harm.

"P-Please, I mean no harm! I am not a thief!" That answered one of Raphtalia's questions. The only thing left was to know what she wanted with us.

"Then state your business! If you truly mean no harm, then why were you sneaking around without announcing yourself?!"

"Calm down a bit, Raphtalia. Let's listen to her before accusing her of anything." Raising my hand to stop Raphtalia's hostility, she lowered her sword. While she did lower her sword, she didn't place it back into its sheath.

"T-Thank you, Hero of the Shield." Hearing her say this, my eyes widened.

"How…" Before I could say anything else, the girl bowed at us.

"It is very nice to meet you, Shield Hero. My name is Melty Melromarc. The reason why I'm here is because I was sent out to visit Melromarc to look for the whereabouts of the Shield Hero. Due to your absence, my mother-I mean the queen of Melromarc had sent out a party to look for you." Melromarc? I've never heard of-oh right, I forgot about that "other world" thing. She couldn't have came from our world. With those style clothing, she definitely not from Remnant. And I heard that she said "Mother", so I'm guessing that she _is _a princess.

"Then… you came from my world, then?" Melty looked at Raphtalia with a confused look. I'm guessing that she doesn't understand what's going on. Looks like we're going to have to explain everything to her now...

"Is that a Filolial?!"

Right after she plays with Filo for a bit...

* * *

"I… see. So I'm currently in a different world right now." With a sad expression, Melty looked at the ground. I could understand how she feels right now. I don't even know how this is possible.

"Melty, did something happen to you earlier before you noticed something looked strange to you?" Okay, let's say that she did come from another world. She had to be somewhere else that we didn't know before being brought into Remnant. If I think back yesterday, that strange barrier appeared, and out of nowhere, the monsters from Raphtalia's world started to appear here.

"Well, while I was feeding a pack of Filolials, this sudden purple barrier covered the entire sky. Then, the Filolials just ran away from the area when they saw a black looking creature." Then proves my point when she could've seen the-wait black looking creature?

"You mean you saw a Grimm?" I asked her. Her head tilted in confusion at the new word. Right, have to remember that people from Raphtalia's world doesn't know what Grimm are…

"...Is that what they're called? I never seen those types of creatures before. I thought that they were normal to see since I wasn't… really familiar with the outside world. I know about some monsters from books, but never had I ever read something about that black creature."

"Were you harmed in the process? You don't look like you carry any weapons on you right now." Raphtalia's right! She doesn't have any weapons on her, so how did she defeat the Grimm without any?

"I used my water magic against it. I was initially surprised when I seen that I was able to kill it with one of a water magic abilities." She has water magic…

I forgot that people from Raphtalia's world could use magic…

"Well, it's great that you weren't harmed in the process. Anyway, can you explain to us why you wanted to see the Shield-I mean Jaune-sama?" Melty responded with a short yawn. Filo followed up with one, along with myself. Looks like yawning _are_ contagious. Well, it's getting late, so I think it's time we get some sleep.

"How about we talk about this in the morning? We're all tired, so how about we just rest right now? Remember Raphtalia, I'm on the lookout for now. I'll wake you when it's your turn."

"But Master, I want to continue to with Melty!"

"No, Raphtalia, it's time for you to-wait master?" I looked at Raphtalia, who was in her sleeping bag and also looking at Filo in shock.

"F-Filo, d-did you just talk?!" Raphtalia yelled in shock. Wait, a darn second! That wasn't Raphtalia who just spoke?! D-Did Filo just-

All of a sudden, Filo's big bird figure had been covered in smoke again. What replaced her this time, was a young girl that was at the age of 14.

I'm sorry, what…? Did she… did she just-

"Yes! I was always able to talk! Were you shocked, Master?! I bet you were!" Filo started to laugh as she looked at our expressions. Even Melty couldn't express words to this sudden change. With no clothes on, Filo was starting to laugh on the floor.

I'm sorry, I'm having trouble comprehending this. Is Filo actually talking to us right now?!

"Raphtalia, are you still up for watching over the night first?"

"I think I need some sleep, Jaune-sama. I must in a dream right now that's showing me that Filo's talking in a form of a young girl. So the answer to your question is: sorry, Jaune-sama…"

"Um, is it okay to surprised right now?" Melty asked us, surprised to see something like this occur.

"Yes." We both said at the same time. Well, I guess we're sleeping in the carriage for the night. I really need some sleep. I should ask Raphtalia to wake me up in the next 50 hours. I must be going insane right now...

**(A/N) **

**If anyone wants to know why I raised the age of Melty, it is because I wanted her to be a bit stronger while they were out on their journey. So there you have it, the team that Jaune will form in Beacon. I didn't even think of a name for them, so I'm going to do that when it's the right time. Thank you for reading... **


	14. The Third Village

**(A/N) **

**Welcome back everyone. It seems like a few days had passed from the last chapter. I was meant to work on this chapter a few days ago, but allergies and sickness aren't the best combinations inside your body. Last chapter, I asked about ideas about Jaune's new team name and I was generally surprised from the ideas that were given out. Out of the few that I read, I think RAMF (from TheB) looks like a good idea. It doesn't mean that I neglected the other names, I just thought RAMF was a bit neat. Not because of the name Ramification, (this was a very good name for them) it is because the thought of having Raphtalia as the team leader. Yes, she doesn't have any team coordination, but this would be the chance to start building up more of her character. I don't know, this was just a thought I had in mind. Onto the story….**

The sun shines its glistening light on my face. Wincing from the amount of sunlight was on my face, I started to open my eyes slowly…

Ah, it's morning already…

Before I could get up from the carriage's wooden flooring, I felt a slight tug on the sleeve of my hoodie. "..." Raphtalia, who was sleeping next to me, had a grip on my hoodie. Well, I guess I should've expected this. Back at the hotel, she wouldn't sleep without holding onto something. And that something that was in the hotel, was her pillow.

"Raphtalia, it's time to wake up now." Slightly nudging her shoulder, she starts to move a bit. "Jaune-sama?" Hearing my voice, she responds.

"Yes, Raphtalia. We need to get a move on." With half-lidded eyes, she nodded her head. We don't have a shower, so I guess we're going to have to wait until we get back to Beacon for any hopes of showering.

"Filo, are you up yet?!" Moving the curtains away, I looked to see if Filo was awake. Before Raphtalia and I went to sleep in the carriage, we decided that Filo should just sleep outside in her Filolial form. At first, she was acting like a spoiled child, but she decided on sleeping outside with Melty.

"I'm up, Master!" Filo yelled excitedly. I'm surprised that she was able to wake up before us. In her… human form, she was just a child. Besides, with all that running yesterday, I was expecting Filo to be sound asleep and resting.

"Sir Shield Hero, did you have a good rest?" Melty, who was on top of Filo, asked me this. I'm surprised how Filo could trust someone after meeting them shortly…

"Y-Yeah, did you both rest easy?"

"Yes, Master!"

"Like a child, Sir Shield Hero." Okay, so I have two problems with how they address me. The big one would be Master. Master? I don't think I like the sound of that. It makes it sound like I'm a slave owner or something like that.

"Filo, you can stop calling me "Master." You can just call me Jaune." Filo cocked her head to the side, looking at me with pure confusion.

"Huh? Why not? Master is Master! There's nothing else I can Master, but Master!" She puffed her cheeks, slightly distraught that I even dared for her to call me something else other than "Master." ...Okay, this was going to be a huge problem now. I don't want to force her to stop calling me that, but what else could I even do? Even if I did force her, she was still a child. She would only throw a fit if I didn't do what she wanted. You know what, how even old is Filo? Like… a few weeks or so…?

"O-Okay, Filo, calm down a second. Ahem, now Melty, the same goes for you. You don't have to call me that. You don't have to treat me like royalty. I'm Jaune and… just Jaune."

"If… that is alright with you. Alright then, Sir… Jaune. How does Sir Jaune sound?" I wanted to slap my head, but I didn't want to show her how a bit annoyed I was of it. Oh well, at least it has my name in it.

"That's… better. Come on, we have to hurry to the next village. Filo, if you mind."

"Can do, Master!" Raphtalia, who was fully awake, had gotten out of the carriage to tie the carriage's rope around Filo again. It didn't take long, but we were quickly on our way to reach the next and last village of the mission…

* * *

"Hey Melty, what was the reason for why you were out in the woods?" Thinking back, I remember Melty saying something about the "Shield Hero's disappearance". Of course, none of this would make sense to me. I still don't understand the reason as to why I have this shield to begin with.

"Oh, yes, I meant to speak to you about that sooner or later." Remembering her reason, she turned to look at me.

"Sir Jaune, I was sent out to know about the whereabouts of the Shield Hero. As you may not know, you have been missing from Melromarc for the past few weeks. The queen, who has sent me out to find you, had heard about "recent events" that's been occuring in Melromarc with the disappearance of the Shield Hero." What does she mean by "recent events"? Okay, so I don't know where this Melromarc place is, and I don't know what's been happening there to even be concerned about it. But when she says that something has been going on about the Shield Hero's disappearance, it starts to concern me a bit.

Was I… in trouble or something?

"Um, what do you mean by "recent events"? Did something happen while I was away?"

"I… can't say. The queen hasn't said anything about the details. I was only given orders to find you." While she does look like she's hiding something, I won't say anything else that would force her to say it.

"...Okay, so can you explain to me why my absence matters?"

"Yes, it was said that the four legendary heroes: Hero of the Sword, Hero of the Spear, Hero of the Bow, and the Hero of the Shield, was supposed to be summoned to complete the duty of clearing out the waves."

"You… said that the hero of the shield was supposed to be summoned, right? Well, I was given this shield out of nowhere, so I wouldn't understand when you mean "summoned". And secondly, what are these waves that you are talking about? I've never heard of those things."

"I see… so this truly is another world. If our worlds are indeed starting to connect to one another, then I fear that the waves might even purge into your world, Sir Jaune." Again, what are these waves that she's talking about?

"Wait, can you explain about what these waves are? I'm still in the dark-"

"Jaune-sama, we're close to the village!" Before I was able to finish my sentence, Raphtalia had interrupted me.

"O-Okay!"

"Sir Jaune, I think it will be best that we save this conversation for later. Helping the village is a priority, correct?" Crap, I guess I'm just going to have to ask her about this later on. She might even know about this timer that's been ticking down ever since the battle with that three-headed dog.

"Wait, Jaune-sama! Are you seeing what I'm seeing?!" Hearing Raphtalia's panicked voice, I went to the front of the carriage to look at what Raphtalia was seeing.

W_hat...?_

_What's... that black smoke that's almost covering up the entire village...?_

_Fire..._

_Why is there fire...? _

"Fire… why is the village on fire?!" Everyone heard my question, but chose not to answer. No, this wasn't the time to hesitate right now, we have to hurry and save the village!

"Filo, we have to hurry! Put in as much power into your feet and start running towards the village!"

"Alright, Master!" With that, Filo stomped onto the ground for a second, before running towards the village with unbelievable speed.

If we're going to save the village, then we're going to have to hurry. We don't know what monsters we're going to face, but I'm sure to say that they won't be pretty looking…

* * *

"Raphtalia, now!" Blocking the upcoming sword that was aimed for my head, Raphtalia rushed in and was able to cut down the enemy with zero precautions. Rushing inside the village, we fought our way against the enemies that were terrorizing the villagers.

"These monsters… they're like zombies." Looking down at the rotten corpse of the deceased soldier, I could gladly say that it was indeed a zombie. Even from another world, zombies would exist. At least the zombies weren't strong enough to become a problem. While they weren't strong, they made up for their strength based on their numbers...

"Jaune-sama, I don't know what zombies are…"

"Raphtalia… now's not the time to worry about that. I'll tell you about them after we get back to Beacon." She nodded her head before instinctively turning around to the next zombie soldier that dared challenge Raphtalia's swordsmanship.

But before she was able to attack the zombie, it was instantly frozen inside a chamber of ice. "Are you alright, Raphtalia?!" With a voice of concern, Melty asked for Raphtalia's safety.

"Y-Yes, thank you very much, Melty." Melty smiled in return. Looking back at Melty, I noticed that Filo was missing from her side.

"Melty, where's Filo?!"

"Huh? I… thought she was behind me when we entered the village…" Great, now we're going to have to find Filo, who was missing inside a village that's about to be burned down to the ground. Without noticing, Raphtalia had already rushed into battle with another one of the zombie soldiers.

"Melty, can you use any water magic?!"

"Huh? Y-Yes, is there something that you want me to do?"

"Yes, can you use your water magic and put out the fires on the houses?"

"U-Understood, and-wait, Sir Jaune!" Before I could move a single step, Melty grabbed my arm and pointed out something that caught her eye. Wait, is that a zombie soldier that's throwing fire bombs on a tower?! We're going to need to take down that tower if we're going to have any hope of stopping the fire from spreading even more.

"Raphtalia! We need to take that-"

"I got it!" A feminine voice had interrupted me, before I was able to finish my sentence. In a single second, I felt a gust of wind brush against my face as something went past me with speed I couldn't comprehend. Before I could even see what made the strong wind, I heard the tower that the zombie soldier was standing in, start to crumble down.

"Jaune-sama, who was that?!" After taking down another zombie soldier, she asked me as if I knew who took down the tower. I only responded with a shrug. But based on the feminine that I heard, it could've been…

"Ah! That was fun!" Coming out of the wooden rumble, Filo emerged.

"F-Filo?!" I heard Raphtalia yell in question. Well, at least we know that Filo is strong enough to take care of herself right now…

"Air Strike Shield!" Summoning the green shield, I was able to block the upcoming attack that was about to hit Raphtalia from behind. While she has enhanced hearing, she could sometimes drop her guard a bit too easily. Now, the monster that was close to harming Raphtalia, was a giant zombie general who was holding onto a giant axe. Who knew that these monsters had different variations…

"Get behind me, Raphtalia!" As the zombie general wasn't able to push past against my Air Strike Shield, Raphtalia was able to run back to me.

"T-Thank you, Jaune-sama."

"No problem. Melty, I know I'm asking a bit much, but could you and Filo work together to deal with the remaining enemies and put out the fire?" Melty nodded her head and climbed onto Filo and left. With that, I locked eyes with zombie general.

"Alright Raphtalia, let's take this thing down!" While the zombie soldiers were easy to take down, I have a feeling that based on the zombie general's thicker armor, it was going to take some time to take him out. But even with thick armor, it doesn't mean that it can stop very strong attacks...

"Understood!"

_The battle was about to begin…_

_The battle would determine this village's fate… _

_Begins now….!_

**(A/N)**

**Um… I am so sorry that I have to end on a cliffhanger. I'm going to be saving the fight scene for the next chapter. I know people hate cliffhangers, but I'm sad to say that I need to rest right now. Being sick with allergies suck… like really bad. Thank you everyone for reading this chapter. **


	15. Brown Fur in a Single Moment

**(A/N) **

**I'm back! So sorry for the inconvenience everyone! If anyone wasn't able to see the note that I left yesterday, it was about me being a bit busy on thinking of an actual story on Wattpad to create with my time. It's called "Beautiful Muted Voice" and yes, this is not a fanfiction. So check it out if you want to see how's it's going. And if you don't… then okay, let's move onto the story! **

"Air Strike Shield!" The green holographic shield that appeared in front of me was able to stop the giant axe that was coming straight towards my face again. Even with the amount of strength the zombie general had, it wasn't going through the Air Strike Shield. Good. As long as the zombie general continues to focus on me, then Raphtalia will be able to attack without it noticing.

"Raphtalia, go for its legs!"

"Understood!" Coming from behind me, Raphtalia was quick enough to get under the zombie general and slash its legs. While the top part of the zombie general's body is covered in thick armor, its legs wasn't covered that well.

"**GRAAAAAAGH!" **

I think its screaming was enough for us to tell us that it was working. If we continued to attack its legs, then…

Then what…?

Yes, I'm sure that we could attack the legs, but was it going to be enough to kill it? No, to be honest, will the zombie general even die again? At most, it would be best if we make him fall, but what can we do to make sure that its dead?

"Jaune-sama!" Unknown to me, after the zombie general had screamed in agony, it decided to swing to the left of me, neglecting the Air Strike Shield that was still in front of it.

Crap…!

"Ursa-!" Without finishing the call to my Ursa Shield, I was sent into the nearest building. Luckily for me, it wasn't on fire. Feeling more weight on my arm, I noticed that the Legendary Shield at turned into the Ursa Shield. I was lucky enough for it to change in time. Getting back up, the pain that I should be feeling didn't really hurt as I expected. Maybe I should check my status to see how much HP I have.

_?_

_?_

_?_

_?_

_?_

What the hell was this? Why couldn't I see my status anymore? Instead of the usual status that I was familiar with, it was replaced with question marks. It was like all of the information about myself had suddenly disappeared.

_Status: Cured _

Status Cured? Wait, so I couldn't see my status because of the zombie general's attack? If that was, then I'm going to have to hurry up and warn Raphtalia before she gets hurt! Wait, what's this right underneath my status?

_Rot: Cured _

_Skill that disables the view of own and group's status. HP of own status will start to decrease greatly over time when attacked by skill. Lasts for only 2 minutes. _

Rot… so this was the skill that the zombie general had used on me so I couldn't see my status. Because the Ursa Shield only grants defense, it's not effective enough to nullify those types of skills. This was really like a game… but instead, it's in the real world.

Different enemies will tend to use different skills that would make them distinct from other monsters. That's the reason why we have characters in games equip themselves with armor that could possibly neglect those skills. Other than the Grimm, we have some monsters that can kill an average hunter if they aren't prepared well enough. That makes two different types of enemies that we have to fight against.

And it's only up to my group to stop these monsters from causing more havoc to these villages...

And for me to get stronger… I'm going to have to absorb more objects into my shield…

"Jaune-sama, are you okay?!" Raphtalia had jumped into the building, looking around for me. Wait, if she's here, then who's dealing with the zombie general?

"Raphtalia, I'm here!" Moving to her field of view, I walked towards her. Her ears had perked up when saw me covered in dust a bit.

"You're not hurt are you?" She looked around my body to see if I had any bruises on me. Of course, she was surprised to see that I didn't even have a single scratch on me. Even if I didn't have any scratches, I could still feel the impact from hitting the building in my back.

"I'm still in one piece. Anyway, Raphtalia, where's the zombie generald?"

"Take this you stupid monster!" Before a word could come from Raphtalia's mouth, I heard Filo's childish voice from outside. So Filo and Melty were able to stop the fire?

"Raphtalia, we gotta go and help them. We can't allow them to take a hit from that thing. They have some sort of skill that won't allow you to see your status."

"Alright, I'll be more careful then. Let's go, Jaune-sama." With that, we exited out of the building to aid Melty and Filo with the zombie general.

"Be careful, Filo!" Filo was soaring through the air, waiting for her next attack on the zombie general. Melty, who was riding on Filo's back, was busy sending out water attacks to the zombie general in the air. Sadly, it didn't look like they were fazing it at all.

"Raphtalia, aim for its feet again!" While it was distracted by Filo and Melty, Raphtalia was able to swoop in below it, and cut its legs again. Again, it yelled in agony.

"Sir Jaune! Raphtalia!"

"Filo, get behind the zombie general so Melty can aim for its feet! When its staggered long enough, knock it onto the floor!"

"Okay, Master!" Going with my order, Filo flies behind the zombie general, and Melty attack its legs.

"Zweite Aqua Slash!" Hearing this, Raphtalia moved from under the zombie general, and went for cover. As Melty's attack connected with the zombie general's feet, it was on its hands and knees.

"Filo, now!" Seeing this opportunity, Filo started to fly towards the zombie general's back, and slammed her feet on its back, causing it to be laying on the floor now.

"Air Strike Shield!" Grabbing my Air Strike Shield, I ran towards the zombie general's head, and slammed the shield on his neck. As the bottom tip of the shield was laid on the nape of its neck, I started back with the shield, trying to get the helmet off of its head.

"Raphtalia, cut off its head!" As soon as the neck of the zombie general was a bit more exposed, I called out for Raphtalia to finish it off. If it's just like the zombies from a zombie movie, then if we cut off its head, then it'll be dead.

"Take this!" Raphtalia jumped into the sky with her sword raised up above her. And then, in a single instance, the zombie general's head had been cut clean off. With the zombie general dead, everything had gotten quiet. Looking around, I was able to see burnt houses, dead zombie soldiers, and… dead people. I c-can't look at this...

"Sir Jaune, is it over?" I heard Melty, who had jumped off Filo's back when she landed, asked me this.

"...Y-Yeah." The villagers… bodies were scattered all around the floor. Some of them looked like they had died after bleeding out. How did we even ignore this to begin with? What if… they were waiting for us to save them?

For some reason, the air was starting to feel thicker. The air itself was starting to suffocating me and with it, came a smell that flowed into my brain for me to forever remember it. A smell that clings to my nose, ever wanting me to always look at the mistake that I had caused.

_What if we couldn't have saved them to begin with…? _

_What if…_

_What if…_

_What if…_

_What if…_

_What if…_

_The words of "What if" had started to replay in my mind until I finally understood the smell that hurts my heart..._

_It was the smell of fresh blood from bodies that I had failed..._

_All of a sudden, I felt something grasp my hand. They were soft… and they were there for comforting my cold hands with their own warmness. No, these hands were hands that I've felt before. _

"Jaune-sama…" I looked to my left to see Raphtalia with a frown and droopy ears. …Was she bothered by… this situation as well?

"Are you okay, Jaune-sama?" Hearing her soothing voice, I was able to come from my thoughts my easier.

"I… Raphtalia, we won, right?" My body was shaking… I was actually afraid to know the truth.

"Jaune-sama… yes, we did win." I felt the grip that she had on my hand start to harden. If we won… then why does this victory pain my heart?

It was… time to go back.

It was time to go back to Beacon…

...To report our failure.

* * *

The ride back was… a bit quiet. While Melty did feel remorse for the villagers that had fallen, she was easily cheered up by Filo's childish antics. Filo… was a kid. Filo, who was sad at first, was easily able to overcome the pain of failure for protecting the villagers. It's not like she didn't care about them, it's just that she was a child. She would easily forget things out of her mind as quick they come. But that doesn't mean that she might not experience some trauma.

Yes, just like Raphtalia, Filo had been getting nightmares of the people who had been killed during the past three reason for why it was taking too long to get back, was because of the fact that Filo wasn't feeling as normal as she was before. She's been… slowing down when it comes to moving the carriage. Today, she was back into the hang of things. Having to comfort her after the moment of the nightmares had managed to make her feel more better. But in order for me to keep having to do that… I had to stay up for the past three days, waiting for her episode.

Right now, we had continued our journey back to Beacon…

"Jaune-sama, how are you feeling?" I heard Raphtalia open the curtains to check up on my health. I was sitting in the back of the carriage and staring out into the forest.

"..." I was busy staring out into the wilderness to respond to her.

"Jaune-sama?"

"Hm? Yes, Raphtalia?"

"Are you… feeling alright?" When I looked at her, I could see the worry that resides on her face.

"Yeah, I-I'm alright. I'm just thinking to myself." I don't know why, but I didn't want to tell her of the problems that I'm facing right now.

"...Let's talk about it. Melty, can you hold onto this?" Raphtalia held out the rope that she had that was tied around Filo in her Filolial form. Without answering at first, she gently took the rope from her hands.

"Of course, Raphtalia. And please, make Sir Jaune back to his usual self." Did they forget that I could hear them? I told her that I was fine, so why do we need to talk about this?

"Jaune-sama, let's talk." Before I could even notice her, she gently left her hand on my shoulder, trying to make me at least more comfortable with her around. It's funny. Before, I was the one who wanted to talk about her problems. And now, she's the one who's sitting by my side, wanting me to speak out my problems.

"Raphtalia… I said that I'm fine. We don't have to talk about villagers." While I wanted my voice to be more gentle, instead, it was more of a venomous tone.

"So the villagers were concerning you." I accidentally spoke my mind out to her. Why was I even having trouble talking to her? She said that she was there for me, so why am I feeling this…

_Hatred…?_

"...Raphtalia, look-"

"Jaune-sama, you have bags under your eyes. Have you been sleeping okay?" As she touched the bags that were indeed my eyes, I closed my eyes to make sure that she didn't accidentally poke them.

"It was… the only way for me to not have any trauma." She moved her hand away from my eyes, and gently stroked the cheek.

"I know it's hard, Jaune-sama, but… I think it's best if we continue forward. I don't want to forget about their deaths, but I don't want to remember them as well. It's scary, Jaune-sama. Trying to forget something, only for those traumatic experiences to paint itself on the canvas that is your mind. Please, just try to forget about those experiences and make them you-" In a sudden instance, I felt something a tinge of pain into my head. It was pain that had forced itself into my emotions, and want to scream them out.

"But even if I do forget them what if… this happens in Vale?! What if I can't protect anyone with my shield?! I can't even fight, Raphtalia! I'm just an useless cheat-!"

"Is that what you think of yourself? Doubting yourself as being useless? Is that truly what you think about yourself?" Looking into Raphtalia's eyes, I could tell that she was bit upset with me.

"...Yes. If not useless, then what am I?"

"Good. It's good to know what you think. But now, I want you to know what _I _think about you." Raphtalia positioned herself to be fully facing my direction now. And then, with both of her hands, she laid them on top of mine.

"Jaune-sama, if not for you, I could've drowned in the water that you had found me in. If not for you, I would be stuck in trauma for the rest of my life. If not for you, I wouldn't have found a reason for living in this world. We fight, we fought, and we keep on fighting to survive. So hearing that, this proves that you're not useless. To me, to Filo, to Melty, or to any other people that you had saved before. You're… precious to the hearts of everyone!"

"But… how can I even fight with just a shield? What if I'm never going to be able to fight by myself without your help?"

"Will you continue to protect me from danger with your shield raised high, Jaune-sama?"

"...Yes."

"Will you raise your shield for the people who can't fight?"

"...Yes."

"Then I will decide to always raise my sword, fighting against any danger that crosses by that very shield that you hold dear, Jaune sama. Because even without the sharpest of blades, the shield that you carry that was made for the sake of protecting memories that you made with everyone, will always be on your hand. You fight for the sake of helping others, and that will always be your weapon."

"But-" Before I could finish saying everything, I felt my head lay on something soft. With the speed that Raphtalia carries even without her sword, she laid my head on her lap and started to play with my messy blond hair.

"Sleep, Jaune-sama. You need rest." Her voice was soothing than ever before. The pain that I felt in my head had already disappeared like the wind.

"But-"In a split second, a fluffy and long brown tail had clouded my vision. All of sudden, I felt more tired than usual. It was like her tail was a sword that had easily cut through the stress that I had boiled inside my body.

"Good night, Jaune-sama." With that, I felt my eyes gently close on their own. Hypnotizing and enchanting, her voice was easily able to make fall asleep.

But before sleep took over my mind, I felt Raphtalia lift her tail from my head, and I felt the feeling of something soft touch my forehead. All that I was able to hear was a slight kiss sound before darkness clouded my vision.

_Yeah, I think I needed this…_


	16. A Search Party! For Who!

**(A/N) **

**I'm back everyone! Sorry for the late update! Now, it's come to the point where I am very close to going to college. Now, because of this, it's hard to keep up with some of the stories that I'm currently writing. Even still, I have more fanfiction ideas that I want to write about that involves Rise of the Shield Hero. That is all for now…**

"That is all. Please, return to your rooms for now." Headmaster Ozpin dismissed us after the briefing of the mission's... success? With everything that happened to us, it's kind of hard to say if was a success or not.

"Yes, sir." I bowed before taking my leave from the headmaster's office.

"Oh, and Mr. Arc?" Looking back, I could see Headmaster Ozpin clasped hands in front of his face with an analyzing look.

"Yes, sir?" Headmaster Ozpin paused for a second and glanced at Filo and Melty before looking back at me. It figures that he would at least show some kind of response when bringing Filo and Melty back with me. Bringing a 9-10 year old girl with me would make look like I'm some kind of child kidnapper. And a teen that looked that they came from a castle isn't helping in the slightest.

"Mr. Arc, may you please introduce...acquaintances? While I do appreciate their support in your previous battles, but I don't believe that you explained to me how you met them during your travels."

...Now, this is when I need to think of some excuses for Filo and Melty. I can't just say that "Oh, I met Filo in this form after she magically turned into a human child. By the way, did I mention that she can transform into a huge bird?" I need to think of something…

"Mast-" Before Filo had the chance to speak, I covered her mouth with my hand. Oum forgive me if someone hears that I'm being called 'Master' from a 9-10 year old girl.

"Um, I found Filo in the forest where she was abandoned by her parents. Because of that, I decided that I was going to raise her in her parents stead." Please buy it… Please buy it…

"I will buy your excuse for now, Mr. Arc." He sits back further in his chair with a small smile.

Yes! He bought-wait, what?

"Mr. Arc, I have heard over a hundred excuses with their words starting with 'um'."

"Ah, I-I'm sorry, then. It's… kind of hard to explain." Before I had the chance to speak further, Melty had stepped forward and placed a hand on her chest. From the constant shaking that Melty was enduring, I could tell that she was nervous. Is she trying to come up with something that doesn't give away the fact that she comes from another world?

"H-headmaster Ozpin, allow me to explain the situation at-" Before she could speak any further, Ozpin raised his hand.

"If I remember correctly from Mr. Arc's briefing, your name is Melty, correct? Well then, Ms. Melty, you don't have to explain your situation with me. If it is personal, then I do not mean to intrude. Forget about the explanation with the meetings with Mr. Arc. If he trusts you to assist him in battle, then that is all I need to know. You are all dismissed. However, Mr. Arc, I would like to speak to you first thing tomorrow morning about… your situation with Mr. Winchester. Everything else about your acquaintances with be discussed on a later day. " With that, we all turned and left the Headmaster's office.

* * *

"Master, this bed is sooo fluffy!" After coming back from the mission briefing, we went straight back the dorm room. The first thing that Filo did upon opening the door was to lay on the bed. With all of that exploring, I wouldn't be surprised that Filo wanted to rest all day.

"Filo, I know that you don't want to-"

"No! I'm not going to stop calling you 'Master'!" My shoulders slumped as it came to realization that I'm going to deal with a stubborn child for probably the rest of my life.

"Melt-chan, let's play a game!" Jumping down from the top bunk, Filo was instantly in front of Melty's face.

"A-A game?! What sort of game do people like to play?" Melty… are you okay? You're starting to shake from nervousness. Could it be… that Melty doesn't know a single thing about games?

"Ooooh, how about… how about… um, what kind of game is there to play?" Filo put her hand on her cheek to think of some sort of game to play. Well, she's technically a bird, so she wouldn't know that much about games children play these days.

"Jaune-sama, is there a ball around? When I was little, I played a lot of games with a ball with my friends." She started smiling when she brought up the time when she had fun playing a ball when she was in her old world.

"Hm, I don't know. I might need to ask Professor Goodwitch if we could borrow one if she has one." Clasping her hands in celebration, she looked back at Filo, who was still stuck pondering about a game to play, and discussed her idea.

"Filo, would you like to play with a ball? When I was your age, I used to-"

"No thanks, Raph-chan. Just playing with a ball is boring…"

…

…

...

"Um… Raphtalia? Are you okay?" When Raphtalia looked back at me, I could see that her eyes were void of emotion. It was like someone had stole her bike…

"Jaune-sama, is the ball still up for takes? For some reason, I want to play with the ball by myself, right now."

Ah… I think I should get the ball later on then. Until then, stay strong Raphtalia…

* * *

"Jaune-sama, do you need any rest?" I felt Raphtalia put her hand on my shoulder with concern being a top priority in her voice. Now that she mentions it, we had been in the room for some time now. Classes were about to be over for everyone, so I guess it would be good if I got some rest. Talking and talking has been almost like a toll on me. But for some reason...

"Oh, no I'm actually pretty fine right now. Because of your… help, I was able to get a lot of rest off my back."

"T-that's good to hear, I'll a-always be there if you need that k-kind of treatment!" Raphtalia's face had turned fully red when she took a pause before speaking. ...What was she thinking about?

"Y-yeah…" I don't know why, but when I think back to that… scene, the only thing that plays back into my head was that weird smooch sou-

…

…

"Ahhhhhh!" I started to yell before I could finish my thoughts. Because of the sudden outburst, everyone in the room jumped before looking back at me.

"J-Jaune-sama, is everything alright?!"

"Alright?! Y-yeah, perfectly fine here! Nothing wrong with what I'm thinking about! Hey, Raphtalia you hungry?! Man, I feel like I could eat a whale right now! How about we go out and get some food?! That's okay?! Oh boy, I can't wait to get some food in my stomach!"

…

…

…

Everyone looked at me as if I had been possessed by some strange ghost. Well, when someone says that they want to eat a whale, then I wouldn't blame them.

"S-sorry."

"Ooh, Melt-chan! Let's play hide and seek!" With all of that talking, Filo finally thought up of a game to play…

"'Hide and seek'? What kind of game is that?" I'm sorry, but Melty, have you had any fun in your lifetime? How does a 9-10 year old child know this game other than you? Now I'm starting to feel bad for you because of how harsh your parents could've been treating you. You have my blessings…

"It's easy! All you have to do is count to 20, and I'll go hide! When you find me, the game's over!"

"O-okay, then. Then I guess I'll start. 1-2-3-"

"Jaune-sama, I think we should go now. Let's let them have their fun." When Raphtalia grabbed my arm, I felt my face become a bit red.

"Are you sure? I-I mean, wouldn't it be best if we watch them?" Raphtalia giggled before she pulled on my arm a bit more.

"Didn't you say that you were hungry? Come on, let's go grab something to eat!"

"Wait, Raphtalia, you're pulling too hard!"

"12-13-14-wait, Filo-chan, how long did you want me to-Filo?!" Before we reached the door, we heard Melty call out Filo's name with concern. Looking back at Melty, I had to ask her what was wrong with Filo.

"What's wrong, Melty?" Looking at her, I could see that she was shaking. Not from nervousness, but from fear.

"I lost, Filo-chan!" I was confused, wasn't that how you play hide and seek?

"But isn't that how you play hide and-" Melty pointed at something that was out of place. Looking at it, the color of my face had automatically lost all of its color. This was… not happening!

The wind from the opened window was blowing ferociously…

"FFFFFiloooooo!" Without giving myself the chance to think, I rushed outside my door in a hurry.

"Woah!" But before I could run any further, I had collided with someone that I didn't see. Based on how I couldn't see the person, I could only tell that they were small.

"S-sorry, I wasn't looking when I rushed out my room. Do you need any help?" I gave out my hand for the person to take.

"It's okay, thank you for the help, though." It's a female, huh? Well, with their red hoodie on, I wouldn't be able to see the person that I had accidently knocked- wait, red hoodie?

"Again, thank you for apologizing. Why were you in a hurry fo-" When she looked up at me, we both froze. Holding my hand, was Ruby…!

"J-Jaune?!" Picking her up with the arm strength that I had to set her back on her two feet, I ran away, afraid of speaking to her right now.

"Jaune-sama, please wait for us!"

"Sir Jaune, don't run too far! I'll get lost at this point!" While I was down the hall, I heard Raphtalia and Melty's voice as they came running to me. I would wait for them to catch up with me, but I'm more focused on trying to find Filo before anyone else does.

"If someone sees her in her bird form, then I'm done for!" With all of the strength I had in my legs, I started to run faster in search of Filo.


	17. Awaited Moment (Changed)

**(A/N)**

**So I've noticed that some people aren't… exactly keen with the idea with what Jaune did in this chapter. I only felt to write something based on how Jaune would act. I'm sorry that I made him… too weak. So, to fix this problem, I'm going to "fix" the interaction up. For those who already read this chapter, just skip to the interaction. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all continue to read in the later chapters.**

"Filo! Filo, where are you?!" Running through the hallways in Beacon, I looked through almost every single classroom to find Filo. It's sad to say that I haven't seen any clues for where Filo could've left. She's barefooted, and she's dressed in a white dress that we had found in a shop in Vale.

"Jaune...sama!" Turning around to see Raphtalia out of breath after she caught up to me. On her back, was Melty, who had probably been knocked out because of exhaustion.

"Raphtalia, did you find her?"

"N-no. I was too busy trying to chase after you…" She said, after catching her breath. With Filo missing, who knows what could happen without someone supervising her. She's still just a child!

"Crap, I didn't think she would take this game too seriously! Now, she could be anywhere in Beacon. If someone like Cardin finds her, then it's game over for me!"

"Jaune-sama, please, calm down. I'm sure that we'll be able to find her before anyone else." After she said that, a streak of red roses had zoomed right passed me. Remembering the only person who has this kind of semblance, I started to sweat nervously. Before I had the chance to turn around, I felt someone's soft and delicate hand on my shoulder.

"Jaune." That voice… it was 'her' voice.

Ruby Rose...

Ever since the moment where I bumped into her in the hallway, my heart started to pound ferociously in my heart. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't hear her voice again.

I was scared to face her before...

And I still am scared...

_"Jaune!" As I sat still on the bench at the docks in Vale, I started to get lost in my own thoughts. Hearing the voice of-_

_"Jaune!" My lips started to curve into a smile as I heard that same familiar voice that belonged to the girl that had asked me out._

_"Jaune!" I closed my eyes, pretending that I didn't hear her._

No, don't try to play these memories. I'm not the same 'Jaune' as I was back then. I'm a liar! A cheater! I didn't deserve these moments! I don't deserve them, I don't deserve any of them!

The belonged to a cheat…

**No, I'm the cheat...**

No, I found my place. I have friends. They helped me when I was in trouble. Pyrrha, my teammate, she helped me-

**But they left me. Why should I call them friends? Why did they leave me to suffer? Why did I suffer? Why? Why? Why? Why? I hate-**

No, shut up! These thoughts aren't mine! I don't hate… I don't hate them! I can't hate them!

These thoughts… They aren't mine!

They belonged to… someone!

I don't hate…

I shouldn't hate…

**That's right…**

_I opened my eyes again and welcomed her with a smile. Pouting, she embraces me in a hug. I laugh at how much of a child she was. Well, I wasn't implying that she was a child, she just acts like one._

_"Jaune?" Looking down, I could see her pleading silver eyes looking mine. Yup, definitely acting a child._

_"Yes, Ruby?" The smile that I wore never faltered as she inches closer and closer to my face._

_"Love you." I felt a peck on my cheek as I closed my eyes and laughed. She sure has a weird way of showing how much she loves me. It would just be nice to close my eyes and enjoy the breeze with-_

I hate myself.

"Jaune-sama?" I opened my eyes again, to see Raphtalia's hand on my shoulder. No, was I daydreaming? Yeah, it was nothing but a daydream. I shouldn't think too much about this. Raphtalia's here so there's nothing to worry about!

But for some reason, my hand was clenched and filled with rage. I… wanted to punch something…

The emerald on the shield glistened…

3̴̬̘̖̠͓̘͕͆̓̏5̵̧̻̫̜̣͇̯̙͕̝̿̎̌͠͝:̴̥̬̊̃̿͆͝0̶̝̱̬͖͔̩̹͈̎̂̎̚9̵̧̱͉̜̅͗̌̓̒:̵̨̛̘̞͚̯̍͌͆͌́̀0̶̱̣̩͙͕̹̫̯̪̅9̸̺̙͈͖͈̠̀̾̐͘

"Y-yes? S-sorry, I was thinking to myself right now." I rubbed the back of my head, laughing like there wasn't anything wrong.

"Are you okay, Jaune-sama?" Her confused expression changed into one of concern.

"Huh? Why wouldn't I be? I was just thinking about myself for a second there. Don't worry about it." I fully turned my body around to face her.

"No, no you're not."

"Wha-" Her hands cupped my face as she stared into my eyes. As it felt like hours for me, her eyes started to pierce through my soul ever-wanting something from me. Her tail wags slowly, showing me that she did indeed want something from me.

"R-Raphtalia, I told you that I'm-"

"Your eyes… they quiver in fear, Jaune-sama. Jaune-sama, what is wrong?"

"..." She waited for me to say something so it could be used against me. It's funny. For the times that we stood at each other's side, I would already know this much about Raphtalia.

"Was it scary?" Before I had the chance to speak again, she laid her finger on my lips. "Jaune-sama, a lot can happen in a single second. With everything in one, everything could be lost in another. Now, listen, Jaune-sama. When you lose in battle, when you lose something important to you, when you think all hope is lost, just remember this: When you look to your side, I am still there. No matter what, I will always be there." I… nodded my head after she was done talking.

"Raph-" With her finger still on my lips, I tried to speak again, only for her to push forward, which caused me to stop.

"Jaune-sama, I want you to say that in your own words." Smiling, she moved her finger away from my lips.

"Wh-" Again, she laid her finger on my lips.

"Repeat. It. Jaune-sama." Even with a smile, I could tell that she was getting a bit upset with me.

"No matter what, you're still by my side." Her smile widens.

"That's good. Forever remember that."

"Ahem." Hearing a familiar voice, I turned around to see who it belonged to. And to my surprise…

"R-Ruby?!" Yes, standing there with her arms crossed was Ruby Rose. Her feet consistently tapped on the floor as if she was waiting for something to be finished. Seeing our shocked expression, Raphtalia gave us some space.

"Hi, Jaune…"

"H-hey…"

…

…

4̷̯͙̥̰͓̲͊̃̈́̉̋͂́͑͝0̸̧̢̧̻̖̪͇̹̫͍̈̀̽̓̈́:̵͖̊̃͐̊̀0̸̨̨̦̬̺̄̅9̵̦̠͔͚̍̾:̶̨̺̦͉̮͇̯̱͖̒̽̇͊͘͘0̸̤̳͖̤͛͐͂̊9̷̤͍̐̿̄̆̂̏͌

"Look, Ruby..."

"Look, Jaune..." After a moment of silence, we both spoke at the same time. Both of us wanted to say something to each other. It could be for the better of us, or for the worst of us. Everything lies in these few words that needed to be exchanged to each other.

'I hate myself…'

When those words play back into my mind, I could feel something that was out of the ordinary. It was something that I thought that I couldn't experience again…

Rage…

No, or was it fear…? Either way, my hand quivers. But then, I felt Raphtalia's hand in mine, even if she backed away from me a second ago. No matter what problems I will face, Raphtalia will always be there.

"...I-" I paused so I could fully muster up the strength that I need to say these words that I needed to say.

Breathe in…

Breathe out…

Raphtalia is here with me. I'm not alone to face this pain…

"I'm…" I started to think of the words that I needed to say." I'm...

"I'm…" Ruby started.

"I'm sorry, Ruby!"

"I'm sorry, Jaune!"

…

…

…

3̷̡̝̤̭̤̣͖̳͑̈́̾̔0̶̤̹̖̞́͆̏̎̋̄͋͋̓͊:̸̱̣͈͈͉͇̱̠̖̱͌̅͗̆͛0̷̟͖̙͙̀̅͗̀̑̓̀̾9̴̝̼̘̝̘̯̘̈́̽̿̎͒͗͘͘:̸̡̧̛̛̥̥͎̩̓̐̈́͜0̷̢̡͇̯̫̖̰̀̋́͋9̸̥̫͍̞͎̩͉̦̈́̔̂̈́̿̚̕̕͝͝

Huh? Did she say… that she was sorry? But… shouldn't I be the one apologizing? Ruby looked at me with a shocked expression at the words that I said to her.

"Wait, Jaune, why are you apologizing?"

"I… should be asking you the same thing." Both of us looked at each with confused looks. Ruby opened her mouth to say something.

"No, Jaune, I'm sorry that I-no, we abandoned you. When you told us about your situation, we wanted to think of a way so you could be better and-" I shook my head, not wanting her to continue. Somewhere, in the back of my mind I could feel something start to grow in eagerness. She was saying that it was 'their' fault. Why? Why does it hurt in the back of my mind?

That something was… ready to… 'snap.'

"No, Ruby, I'm sorry that I came here as a cheat. I… don't think that I belong here. It was my fault that you all had to bear with the fact that one of the so-called 'trained huntsman' was nothing but a liar. I-" She shook her head frantically in denial.

5̴̡͇̝̼͛̈́͋͆͋͘:̵̧̠͓̲̼͎͍̜̬́̎ͅ0̵̺̙̰̘̑9̵̧̹͓̯͈̦̙͗̐̎̀̇͜͝:̵̰̼̟͓̩͗̅̎̒͆0̷̲͍͓̙̎̅̆͆͗9̸̧̳͉̭̺͙͍͓̯́̿̅̃͋̂̾͝͠

"But it was our idea to just leave you like that! I don't even deserve the chance to even say sorry to you!" Her eyes started to become teary. "No, we don't have the right to have you as a friend. While we, the ones who decided to abandon a friend, shouldn't be the ones who should ask for your forgiveness…"

With each word that she says, I could feel a burning sensation on my right arm. It hurts. Her words... it hurts...

_**'Then why are you here?'**_ I didn't want to say that. I _can't _say that. Not to her. **But then, for everything that I had endured before, she deserves this. She deserves to beg for my forgiveness. **

**'You left me, Ruby. You, and everyone else that I had thought were my _friends.'_** No, I'm not saying those words. Why? Why are these thoughts appearing in my mind when I'm thinking about... _them?_ I... can't do this anymore! I... don't want these thoughts anymore! I don't want another _me _plauging my mind with these thoughts damn it!

"Ruby, I-" Everything has to end here. I'm... not allowing myself to suffer anymore!"

"I don't want to hear that you're sorry! What should you be sorry for?! Say it, Jaune! Say the words that I wanted to hear from you from the moment that I came here: 'Go away, Ruby!' Say it, Jaune!" Tears started to pour down from her cheeks. She was afraid of my response…

Just like me…

3̸̡̜̺̟͔̂̐̈̊̔̑͌̂͛͑:̴̧̢̧̛̟͚̝̮̎̉́̌ͅ0̷͇͔͔́͂̋̍̉͘͝͝͝9̵͙̒:̵̻̦̹̠̠̯̗͗͆̌̍̂̓͘0̴̧̢̛̦̺̤̬̫̪͈̙͋̎̚9̷̗͕͉̌̀̀̀̿̆̾̾͌͜ͅͅ

Something flickers in the corner of my eye, but I chose to ignore it...

"I… can't, Ruby. I… I'm not going to say those words, Ruby." In a quick instant, she grabbed my arms and started to shake me.

"Why not, Jaune?! Why can't you say it?! Just tell me to go-" Before she could finish her sentence, I released the hold that she had on me, and grabbed her shoulders.

"Because those words would never belong to me! I would never say that to... to...!" Even with the tears pouring from her eyes, she looks at me with a shocked expression. She fell onto her knees and looked into my eyes. I couldn't say it anymore.

I can't say _**friend** _anymore...

5̴̻̮͒̓̉:̶̤͖̐͒̿̾̾̎̕͘0̷̡͍̘̼͉̳̗͊̀̀̌̄̑̀̅͘͘9̴̢̢̛̟̙̰̪͋̓͘

"...Why? Why don't I deserve it? We're not friends, Jaune! Ever since I left you, we lost that title! No, this isn't right. I should just-" She stood up from the ground with her eyes focused on the floor.

"Jaune, I think it's best if we just... get away from each right now." My hands clenched in aggravation. I wanted-no, I _needed _to punch something. With everything that had happened to me, I need them to get away from me. At least, for now. Not when I'm like this.

"Yeah... I think so too. Let me... gain some distance from everyone." I decided to not look at her. For her to see... what kind of man I've become is... hurtful.

"Will you ever forgive us?" Her voice was shaky along with her figure. She wanted these words, and yet, she still isn't ready to accept them.

"I... don't know." When I said that, her shoulders began to shake. "But... I don't hate you all. It's... just a matter of trust."

"Okay, then. Thank you, Jaune. For... not forgiving us. I... I'm going to take my time on thinking about what I've done to you. The same will go for everyone else when I tell them what you said. I gritted my teeth when she said 'everyone.' It was... time that I say goodbye to Ruby. At least, for now that is. We all need to get away from each other. My sanity needs this. When I looked back Ruby, her eyes were widened. They weren't looking at me. Instead...

...They were focused on something that was behind me…

"Jaune-sama!" Quickly turning around, I saw that Raphtalia… was glowing? Why was she glowing?

"H-huh? What's going on?" I heard Melty's confused and fearful voice as she stared at her glowing figure. Wait, she was glowing as well? What's going on here?

Wait, am I… glowing as well? This… bright yellow field… what is this? Looking down at my shield, I could see the emerald in the middle of it begin to flicker like a broken flashlight.

"Jaune?!" Ruby shouted out my name in panic. She doesn't know what was going on either. If this was something that involved my group, then…!

"Ruby, don't tell anyone about-" Before I knew it, I wasn't looking at Ruby in the eye anymore. Instead, all I could see was the blood-red sky hover upon us. And what laid dormant in the sky, was purple vortexes that sent shivers into my spine.

"Raphtalia?! What's going on?!" Looking back at Raphtalia, I could see that she was shaking. She was… shaking in fear?

"N-no…" I heard her muster.

"Raphtalia, what's wrong?! What's going on here?! Why did we just get sent to some forest?!"

"It's…" She looked at me with frightened eyes. When she's looking at me with those eyes, all I could feel is fear. Not because of the fact that everything looked different from what I'm used to, but it was because…

Raphtalia was scared…

"Jaune-sama, it's just like that day."

"Huh? What day are you talking about?" She gulps before speaking again.

"The day when my parents were killed... right in front of my own eyes."


	18. Where Are We?

"The sky… it's cracking!" As I looked at the sky, I could see a crack that poured out some mysterious and ominous looking clouds. The more I look at it, the more unsettling I feel. What's going on…?

"Raphtalia… what is this place?" I looked at Raphtalia who was still uncomfortable as she continued to stare at the sky.

"N-no, it just… feel familiar. D-don't mind me. Let's hurry and-"

"Masterrrrrrr~!" I felt Filo tackle me as Raphtalia tried to talk to me. Because of Filo's speed, she tackled me onto the floor.

"Filo?! Where in the hell have you been?!" Filo had been gone for a huge majority of the time that we had spent in Beacon. As Filo and Melty wanted to play hide and seek, she just disappeared.

"I won the game of hide and seek, Master~!" A huge smile curled up on her face. When she looks at me with such innocence, it's kind of hard to be upset at her.

"No kidding! Where were you hiding at?"

"Hm? Oh, I was hiding under the bed, Master!" I stared at her for a couple of seconds, then, I facepalmed myself. Why did we not bother on checking if she was still inside the room?! It's going to be official, they can't play hide and seek anymore.

*Graaaaghhh!" Before I had the chance of saying anything else, I heard the terrifying screams from the monsters that are potentially ahead of us. We shouldn't drop our guard. This place is unknown territory to me. Any minor mistake could be my downfall.

"Alright, it's time to take down this wave with some style!" I heard someone yell to the side of us. It was three people that were wearing some odd clothing that I've never seen before. The tallest one that had a huge smile on his face had blonde hair that was put into a ponytail. To his left, was a teen that had black hair, and a cold look on his face. Somehow, he reminds me of Blake. At the right, was a teen that had light brown hair. Each one of them had a weapon in their hands.

The blonde one has a spear.

The black-haired one has a sword.

And the light brown one has a bow.

Right now, they looked like they were heading to the direction to where the screams came from. Should we help out? I mean, they looked strong enough, but handling too many monsters would just be suicide.

"Jaune-sama, there's a mine right here." Raphtalia pointed to where she found the mine and looked at me with a nervous look.

"Is there something strange with it?"

"No, but… do you think this could to be connected to somewhere?" Connected to it? Does she mean that this mine could possibly connect to some other place? Possibly somewhere out of the forest? I looked next to the mine entrance to see a shed. That could possibly be a toolshed of some sort.

"Jaune-sama, wait here, I'm going to check inside that toolshed." She started to run towards the shed, hoping to find something useful. Should we really be wasting our time here? I mean, we should be helping those guys out with the monsters ahead of us.

"Hm? What's going on?" Melty asked with a sleepy voice. Wait, did she just wake up? Man, that run that she had to endure must've really knocked her out.

"Melty, we've been teleported to this… place that I don't know about. You know something about it?" As she wiped her eyes to look at the sky, instantly her eyes widened.

"This is… the Wave of Calamity!" The… Wave of Calamity? What kind of-

"Jaune-sama!" I looked back to see Raphtalia running at me with a paper in hand. This must be urgent.

"What did you find, Raphtalia?"

"This! This is a note that was left from a villager nearby! In the note, they said that village wasn't that far away from this mine! We have to go there and help!" There was a village nearby? Did they… have time to evacuate?

"Alright, let's go. Let's find the village, and help out anyone we find." There was no time to ponder anymore. We have to see if there are survivors out here that might be facing against these monsters.

*Pow!* Hearing the noise, I looked up to see a flare in the sky. That must be the village! Crap, that was an SOS signal!

"Filo, have enough space on your back?!" Filo instantly turned into her Filolial form.

"Of course!" Good. Because we're going to need all the speed we can get right now…

* * *

"No, get back! I said get back! Nooo!" As we entered the village, I could see a man that was dealing with a zombie soldier with a rake as a weapon.

"Air Strike Shield!" Casting out my ability, I stopped the zombie soldier from slashing its sword down on the man. With that, Raphtalia easily swooped by and instantly cut down the zombie soldier.

"Are you alright?" Raphtalia looked to see if the man had any injuries. As much as I'm grateful for Raphtalia to care for others wellbeing, we can't waste our time with only one man. No, this could be perfect.

"Raphtalia, Melty! You both go and evacuate the villagers!" We'll have to split up and save what we can. With Filo and I being the diversion, we could easily draw them away from the villagers.

"And what about you?!" Raphtalia looked at me with a concerning look.

"Filo and I will be the diversion."

"Are you sure? I can-" Rapthalia wanted to convince me to let me stay at her side, but we need to separate our skills right now.

"We'll be alright. Besides, I have Filo, remember?"

"Let's get to the attack, Master!" I waved Raphtalia goodbye as I hopped on Filo's back. As we soared to the sky, I could see a woman with a child in her hands getting chased by a gang of monsters.

"Filo, blow them away from that woman!"

"Got it!" Filo began to flap her wings towards the gang of monsters which caused a gust of wind to blow them away from the woman.

"Shield...Hero?" As we landed on the floor, I heard her call out the title: the Shield Hero. She knows of the Shield Hero? Does that mean that we're in Raphtalia's world?

"!" Before I had the chance to speak, I had heard a growl from behind me. It was that damn zombie general that we fought earlier!

"Graghhh!" As the zombie general swung his axe down, Filo kicked him away from us with her foot.

"Take that, you meanie!" Thank god I have Filo here with me…

"Jaune-sama!" I heard Raphtalia and Melty run towards me after she cut down another one of the zombie soldiers. I noticed that it wasn't just zombie soldiers who were attacking the villagers. There were huge bees as well! Great, I can definitely say that this place is Raphtalia's world.

"Raphtalia? What are you-" As I looked at her, I could see that she had her fists clenched. What was wrong with her?

"I evacuated all of the villagers that I could find. Some… didn't make it. There were too many enemies and-"

"It's okay, Raphtalia. As painful as it is, we can't save everyone. We have to try our best and-" Before I could speak any longer, my sight was blocked by a wall of feathers.

"Master!" Huh? What was going on with-

*Boom!*

"Gah!" Filo winced in pain as something hit her from behind. By the looks of it, it looked like someone had attacked her with…

Fire…?

"Fi..lo?" As I looked up to see Filo's face, I could see that she was in pain. She… took the damage… for us.

"Filo!" Immediately reacting, Melty went by Filo's side.

"Mas...ter, are you alright?" Filo's voice was weak, she looked like she could pass out any minute now. Why? Why is this happening? What can I do, right now? I have to help her!

"Heal!" I shouted out those words, hoping that some miracle can happen so Filo could be healed. Nothing was working. She wasn't getting healed. Tears started to come as I was afraid that I would lose Filo. She's just a child! I can't lose her! I can't bear it!

But then, a screen popped up in front of my face...

Fast Heal: As Shield Hero, source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and heal my target.

Was this… a chant? Whether it is or not, I'm using it! "As Shield Hero, source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and heal my target! Fast Heal!" I saw a glimpse of energy pour from out of my hand and transfer to Filo.

Filo passed out...

Was this… my fault…?

Could this… happen to Raphtalia…?

Or even Melty…?

"She'll… be alright. With your healing, it's safe to say that she'll be good as new when she wakes back up." Melty reassured me that everything with Filo was going to be alright. Wiping away the tears, I let out a small smile.

"That's… that's good. Earlier, that was magic, correct?"

"That is correct, Jaune." She actually dropped any form of formalities in my name. While it wasn't a problem before, I felt a bit good to hear it from her.

"Then that means that someone casted it, correct?" Melty nodded her head.

"That is correct." I watched Raphtalia stand up with her bangs covering her eyes. Even the happiest people could express anger in the quietest ways possible.

"That's good." I looked to see where Raphtalia was looking at, only seeing a bunch of soldiers coming to us. With the smirks on their faces, I could already guess one thing: enemies.

"H-huh? W-why is that good?" Melty wanted to know why I spoke oddly to her. I wouldn't blame her. The burning that I felt on my hand was started to grow even more.

"Because… the person responsible is going to be the one who faces my **wrath.**" I looked to see that the soldiers had stopped. With the smirks still plastered on their faces, I could only respond with-

"Oh? This is the so-called Shield Hero? Hiding behind a Filolial? What a pathetic display that you show, Shield Hero. I have to say, the order I made helped with the annoying pests, wouldn't you agree?" I really want to punch this guy in the face right now. It was because of them, that Filo was in this state.

"Damn you!" Raphtalia, having enough of this guy's insults, raised her sword and attacked the soldier. Seeing her attack a mile away, the soldier easily clashed swords with her.

"You knew that we were here and you still ordered the attack?! You should've chosen your orders carefully!" The soldier only smirked.

"The monsters were gathered here, correct? This was our chance to take them all out. You all made it out fine and pretty, so what's the problem?" His smirk had turned into a smile. It was a smile that was going to be his last…

Suddenly, a sword was flung into the air…

"Again, you should've chosen your actions carefully. My comrade was harmed in the crossfire. Now, explain to me why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand?" Raphtalia said all of that with her sword at the soldier's throat. She was ready to kill. With the way the soldiers behind looked tensed, they were easily afraid of Raphtalia's presence.

And I wouldn't stop her…

Wait, what's that behind them...?

"Raphtalia, stop…" Raphtalia looked back at me with vengeance in her eyes, something that I never thought I would see from Raphtalia. Looking back at me, she lowered her sword.

"T-That's right, you should b-behave yourself, so there wouldn't be anymore issues!" I couldn't help but agree with the soldier.

"Sure… I'll just hang on tight and allow the monsters to run their course. Seems like an okay plan to me, yeah?" Out of nowhere, monsters had suddenly appeared behind the soldiers and killed a part of the group that they had.

"This is what you all deserve. Now, doesn't karma feel sweet?" I smiled as the soldiers yell in panic.

"N-Nooo!" The same soldier that insulted us was screaming in fear. With his sword gone, he couldn't protect himself.

*Clang!* This was sound my shield made when I blocked the axe from the zombie general…

"Raphtalia!" Hearing her name, she jumped on the zombie general's had and stabbed her sword into it. And might I add that stabbed it countless of times. I'm going to take note to never make Raphtalia upset…

"Listen up! Take down the ones that surround you first! I'll defend and you all attack!" I said this to the soldiers who had nothing else to do but panic.

"Why should we take orders from a criminal?!" A… criminal? What did I do that made me look like a criminal? No, that doesn't matter, right now, all that matters is that I protect them.

"Oof!" Walking up the man who had insulted me from earlier, I punched him in the face so he could get down to the floor. With that, I was able to block the attack that came from the zombie soldier behind him. Because of that, a soldier had been able to take it down. As the soldier I punched touched his face, I looked down at him.

"Don't get it confused. We all have the same enemy. I have ways on how I could handle them with my own team. I… can leave anytime if I felt like!" The soldier shivered in fear. That's good.

"Jaune-sama! The sky is returning to normal! " Raphtalia called out my name and pointed to the sky. I could see that the crack in the sky was starting to repair itself. Huh, would you look at that?

"The monsters… they seem to be running away as well…" I watched the zombie soldiers and bees ran away into any direction. I wonder why they decided to run now? As the soldiers saw that their work was done, they ran away.

"Looks like we were able to save some villagers, Raphtalia. Looks like we're done." We both walked up to Filo, who was napping right now. It's funny. Even if the damage she took, she could still sleep with a peaceful look on her face.

"Jaune-sama…" Raphtalia looked around to see the burned houses. Surrounding some of the burned houses, were villagers who were crying for the lost lives that they had suffered. I see… so we weren't able to save everyone after all…

"Jaune-sama, did I… do a good job? I was… able to save kids who could've turned out like me… right?" I could see the tears leaking from down her face. With everything that had just happened, I'd say we should get a break.

"Good job, Raphtalia. Good job." I patted her head, doing so had caused her ears to perk up.

"Let's go home…" I held her hand as we walked towards Filo so we could wake her up. I'm hoping the damages didn't hurt her too much. When we get to Beacon, we're going to have a good rest to ourselves…

Wait, where is home…?


	19. Chapter 19

**(A/N) **

**Hello everyone, I returned from an stressful lot of time that had been put onto my lap ever since the last chapter. Looking at the chapters...oooh boy, looks like there's a lot of people with some mixed thoughts. Number One: I am not in any way trying to make Jaune into Naofumi. Let me be straight, yes, Jaune should not be acting scornful to others like Naofumi. But please understand, **_**your **_**teammate is hurt, and the people who caused your teammate to be hurt comes to taunt you after doing so, then it makes to be upset. Would you even consider saving them? No, but I decided that Jaune did because he is **_**not **_**a killer. Number Two: Why is he a criminal as the soldiers says? Well, you're going to find out in this chapter. And Number Three: The Waves of Calamity takes place in Raphtalia's world. Right now, they are in Raphtalia's world. Jaune and his teammates are fighting in Raphtalia's world. Jaune and his teammates are stuck in Raphtalia's world. The other heroes will also make their appearance as well. And Number Four: Everyone...just...just chill. Remember, this is a Fanfiction. If you don't like something, you don't have to continue reading. Just saying spiteful words isn't going to change anything about the story. Thank you all for reading this story, and I hope you continue to enjoy. **

"Search the area, there's no way they could've gone out too far! The criminal has the second princess! Eliminate the Shield Hero and secure the princess!" The captain shouted out his orders to the rest of his crew.

"Yes, sir!" The line of soldiers had saluted before scattering to look for the person that had brought up their entire attention. As the entire line of soldiers left, including the captain, the entire area had been silent.

The Shield Hero…

Unknown to them, there was a piece of wood that was covered up in green leaves that had been lifted up slightly...

"*Sigh* I think we're clear guys." Looks like we're safe to exit for now. Luckily, there was this bunker-like shelter that was hidden in the village. For it to be abandoned, it did provide us some shelter for the time being. Seeing that there was no one else around in the area, I lifted up the hatch and hopped out.

After saving the village, out of nowhere, we were chased by the soldiers. They either had the intention of arresting him...or something worse. We had been in the hiding for at least two days now. We had to hide here for at least those days because the soldiers kept trying to look for trails here. This _was _the last place we were seen after all.

"Are you sure, Jaune-sama?" Getting out, Raphtalia looks around to see if there was anyone still searching around the area.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it. If they were searching this place bit by bit, then I would've heard the noises. What about you? Hearing anything that could possibly represent the soldiers?" Raphtalia's ear twitched before answering.

"No. They must've went somewhere else that was close to here. I think it would be best if we left the area to find a new place to hide." Lending out her hand for Melty, she carefully leads Melty out of the hidden shelter that they had found.

"Master, I'm hungry~!" Filo complained as her stomach started to growl. After the nap that Filo had took, she was as good as new. The healing was incredibly helpful for Filo's health. Now that I think about it, with this new healing ability, would it be safe enough to say that I would be able to heal any wound?

"You will need to wait, Filo. We have to find a place to hide first." Raphtalia scolded.

"But we already hid already~! Let's find some food~!" Filo yelled, as she stretched her arms into the sky. Before she could yell any louder, I put my hand over Filo's mouth.

"Alright, Filo, we'll find some food in a bit. But first, we have to focus on leaving the village." Filo nodded her head silently as she understood what I said to her.

"Great, now, let's just get out of here. All that's happened to me is starting to get to my head. Seriously, what had I done that makes me a-" Before I decided to say anything else, I remembered the false transcripts that I had forged. Did Cardin...no, that wouldn't make me a criminal in Raphtalia's world. Our worlds are separate, so why am I a criminal?

"..." Melty had been unusually silent ever since we found the hidden shelter. I wonder if there is something on her mind. Since we're starting to leave the village, now will be the right time to ask what's bothering her.

"Melty, is there something wrong?" As I called her name, Melty flinched in surprise.

"W-well, Sir Jaune, do you remember what I told you when we first met?" Thinking back, I vaguely remember everything that she had said to explain her reasoning. I remember something about 'missing' was what bothered me before.

"Didn't you say something about the Shield Hero being '_missing'_?" Melty nodded her head.

"Yes, I did say that. But Sir Jaune, I'm afraid to say that I...haven't gone into further detail as your status is now currently 'missing'." I stayed silent, waiting for her to explain herself once again.

"Sir Jaune, the reason why I was sent out to look for you, was for to find your location and bring you back to discuss...things with my father. You see, Sir Jaune, the reason why you're being seen as a criminal...is because no one knows who the Shield Hero is." My eyebrow twitched in confusion.

"What? If they don't know who I am, then why label me as a criminal?"

"Sir Jaune, in this nation, there is religion where the people utterly discriminates against the Demi-humans. Everything that was fair to the Humans, wasn't fair to the Demi-humans," So like Remnant, there is racism...still active. "According to my mother, this wasn't the case. There was a dispute between the Demi-Humans and this nation before everything had come into play as it is now today." Hearing about the Demi-Humans, Raphtalia had decided to join in the conversation.

"Do you know the reason for the dispute?" Raphtalia asked her. Raphtalia might've experienced some kind of discrimination in her time in this world.

"Yes. Everything that I had learned about the Shield Hero is from my mother. As there are books on the legends of the other heroes, the Shield Hero's legends had…disappeared. According to my mother, long ago, there was a previous Shield Hero before you, Sir Jaune. This previous Shield Hero was highly respected by the Demi-Humans as he helped them in their grief. The discrimination happened right after the support the Shield Hero had showed after he…"

"Left?" To say, I wouldn't want to say that he was dead. Before any of that, I didn't know that there were previous Shield Heroes before me.

"Yes. Because of the previous Shield Hero's affiliation with the Demi-Humans, this nation had started to despise the Shield Hero. It came to the point where The Church of the Three Heroes, our national religion in this nation, had brought up some...disturbing rumors…" The Church of the Three Heroes, huh? Didn't Raphtalia say that there were four legendary weapons in total?

"And what kind of disturbing things did they say?"

"...They said that the Shield Hero was the devil incarnation himself. Because of the previous Shield Hero's affiliation with the Demi-Humans, they also believed that all Demi-Humans were devils as well…"

…

…

Excuse me…?

"W-wait, so because of the actions of someone else with the same weapon, they will believe that all wielders of the legendary Shield is the devil? Even the Demi-Humans?" This...didn't make any sense. It wasn't like the previous Shield Hero did something bad, he was only doing what was right. Right? There was no way that he was going to despise the Humans for he could've possibly been a human.

"Yes. My father, who also believes in the Church of the Three Heroes, also thinks this as well." Even the king hates my guts for something that I haven't even done?! They need to put some standards in this world!

"Are you sure that your father believes this? I mean, the king wouldn't do anything drastic enough to make me look bad, right?" I already know the answer.

"Sir Jaune, before I answer your question, I'll inform you that the while the queen is away, the king hold power over the nation. Here, the queen holds more power than the king. Everything that the queen says, it is said to be done. Now, while the queen is away, the king has to take control over the throne. And because of that…-"

"The king will be in power…" Raphtalia finished for her.

"Sir Jaune, you are labeled as a criminal. This was not of the fault of a random rumor. This...was said by the king himself. What he says and what the Church of the Three Heroes says, is all but true to the Human ears. Believing in religion, and believing in the words of the king, it is only a matter of time before it gets worse for you, Sir Jaune. Now that I'm with you, it could've already been starting to get worse." Shocked, I couldn't respond at first. Because of the king and because this stupid religion, everyone could be out to have his head.

"So being a 'criminal' and a 'devil' is enough to have everyone after me? Even if I hadn't done anything wrong? Even if I don't know a single thing about this world, they will still come after me?" I felt Raphtalia's hand on my shoulder as she tries to comfort me.

"For you not being summoned at the same time as the other heroes, this was the perfect chance for my father and the church to start their plan on trying to have you taken down. If they say that you have criminal deeds on you, and you haven't appeared to even say that the accusations are false, then who will believe you?" I looked to the ground, not believing what I was actually hearing. We had stopped a long time ago, so it will be best if we started to walk again.

"I will." Raphtalia...

"Master is Master. I will follow wherever he goes! He's not evil!" Filo…

"Even if no one else believes you, you have me, the second princess by your side as well. I will use everything in my power to make sure that everyone sees that you're not in the wrong. My mother and I don't follow the religion, I'm sure she's just on the same side as me." Melty…

I smiled once again, happy that my friends were there by my side.

There has to be some sort of area that could connect to Remnant. We can't just be trapped here forever. This was a world where everyone hates me. We can't stay here…

"Sir Jaune?" Hearing Melty's voice, I turned around to face her.

"Yes? Is there something wrong?" Melty shook her head.

"No, I…might have an idea where we could stay at the time being." Melty smiled, knowing well where they could hide so no one could find them.

"And that place will be…?"

"While I do wish to visit Father to clear up the mess that he has created, it has been a long time since I met my mother ever since I left on my journey. It would be best to visit her, wouldn't you agree?"


	20. Our Time

"Jaune-sama, I would like to remind you of what happened in the past few hours. We stole a carriage, stole some food, and we're heading towards a place called Faubley?" With everything that just happened in a single day, I'm surprised that I still have my sanity.

"Well...I would've liked to give the carriage back but-yeah, we stole the carriage. I'm sorry Raphtalia."

"Jaune-sama...it's fine. However, I agree to the fact of returning the carriage from where _Filo _got it from. But even if we did, I don't think we would've had the time to negotiate with the villagers." I just can't believe we just did what we just did. We saved the village from the monsters, and then we just straight robbed them. I hate myself even more now.

"But we had to find a way of moving and food for Master~! I saw that there wasn't anybody using it so I just decided to take it~! No one saw me~!" As Filo dragging the carriage, she started explain herself of how she stole the carriage.

"It doesn't matter Filo, you don't steal what isn't yours." Raphtalia scolded. She's starting to look like a mother figure to Filo now.

"Hey, Melty, how long would it take us to reach this Faubley?" Ignoring Raphtalia's and Filo's argument, I decided to speak to Melty about the place we were headed.

"It shouldn't take too long. I'd say that we could reach there in two days at least." Melty knew about this Faubley place so I wouldn't be surprised for her to know how long it would take for us to reach there.

"Oh, and before I forget, stay viligent when we arrive there, Sir Jaune." All of a sudden, Melty's face had turned serious.

"I-is there something that I need to be careful of?" I was nervous enough to even think of something bad happening to us when we arrive there.

"It's not you I'm worried about, Sir Jaune, it's the females in our party that I'm concerned about." Worried about the females? Please don't tell me that there is some sort of rapist in this place. Overhearing the conversation, Raphtalia decided to jump in the talk.

"What do you mean by that, Melty?" Raphtalia asked.

"Raphtalia, the king there… is… flirty with women. It would be better if we avoided the king and his… helpers. Our only objective is to visit my mother and return to Melromarc so we can clear your name."

"I… didn't think that the king would… be like that. I hope that he doesn't hope on touching any of you. We'll just have to find your mother first so we can quickly get out of that place." Jaune imagined the king to be a flirtatious person who only cared about… women.

"Jaune-sama, we might have a problem." Coming out from the back of the carriage, I saw Raphtalia holding a map with uncertainty in her eyes.

"Let me guess, we're going to have a problem leaving this place, right?" As the carriage stopped, I was able to see the bare field with nothing but a huge gate blocking the way of leaving out of here. This could be bad. If the soldiers are there to supervise the gate, then we won't be able to leave. We'll only be hunted down.

"Yes, we are. Unless we take a detour, we won't be able to not make things complicated, but that will take a couple of days at least."

"Hm, then what do you think we should do then? We can't force our way through the gate, it will only make our situation even worse." The thought of trying to clear my name went in the back head at first, but the thought of getting chased out by the soldiers also came into thought.

"Raphtalia, is the detour dangerous?" Melty was a princess, so it would be worrying for a princess to be put into dangerous situations. But then again, she was part of that wave thing. Melty's with us, so I'm sure we'll be capable enough of protecting her.

"Possibly. However, it will take a few days to leave Melromarc if we take this detour. Comparing the detour to the gate, the gate is the fastest way out of Melromarc." In the end, both ways are dangerous. Hopping out of the carriage, I tried to look at the gate if there was any other possible way of crossing it.

"Hello, Shield Hero." Out of nowhere, I heard a voice from behind me. Whoever this person was, they were certainly good at sneaking around with our backs turned away from them.

"Huh?! Who are you?!" Jumping back a bit, I looked behind me to see a woman wearing a cloak. Raphtalia and Filo were already to fight as they were already in their fighting stances.

"It matters not of who I am. Shield Hero, all you must know is that I am not here to attack you. I was sent to supervise Princess Melty. I mean no harm to any of you." The woman in cloak only bowed.

"State your business." Raphtalia was reluctant to even trust this person. She was easily able to get behind us without even alerting Raphtalia or Filo. And they're like my eyes and ears for the most part.

"You… Yes, I feel _it_ from you as well. However, it's more abundant as it continues to reside in your body compared to the Shield Hero." The woman looked up to reveal a mask that covers her eyes as she stared at Raphtalia with wonder. What does she mean by _it_? Is there something with Raphtalia that I didn't know?

"What… What are you talking about? I have nothing inside my body!" The woman only stared at Raphtalia with a stoic face.

"...You are connected to _it. _The power I'm feeling from you is similar to the anomalistic magic that I had detected a few days ago. Whether if you _are _connected to it officially, it is very concerning." Just a few days ago, it was the first time we arrived here, so there isn't a way for us to know anything that happened weird in this world.

Unless… It was about _our _arrival…

No, there's no way that Raphtalia is connected to any of that! Raphtalia… doesn't have anything that makes us transport into different worlds, let alone connect our two worlds together!

"...Can you please explain? I appreciate your concern over my safety, but it will be most important to understand your warning." Melty was trying to convince the woman to explain her confusing warning.

"...It will be best if we discuss this with the queen. Come. I will take you to a path towards Faubley." The shadow stood up and walked over to me and the group. So… there's a more simple way to the queen now? Heck, it makes traveling a whole lot more simpler. But then again, I'm worried about Raphtalia now. If Raphtalia had a connection to the our worlds, then-no, there's no way she's connected to any of it. There… has to be something else that's making us teleport to our worlds.

* * *

"There." As we followed the woman to wherever she wanted to take us, we stood upon a road that we haven't seen yet. Going upon the path, all that lies is the forest. "This path will lead you to Faubley. However, monsters that reside in this forest are dangerous. Stay on your toes and keep your guard up, Shield Hero." She said this as she was standing on a tree branch.

"Will you still watch over us?" I'm a bit concerned whether or not we'll be fine to go through the path with dangerous monsters ahead of us. I don't know what her skills are, but they could prove useful if she can easily sneak behind any of our targets.

"Of course, my mission is to watch over the princess." I smiled in return. It was time to head out then. As Filo started to pull the carriage, I could only think of the possibilities of different types of monsters that we will be facing. With new monsters, we'll have the chance to raise our level even higher.

Let's see, I'm level 30, Raphtalia's level 32, Filo's level 31, and Melty's level 29. We seemed to have gotten a bit stronger ever since those waves of monsters happen. Because of the many monsters that kept appearing, we were able to reach our current levels. "Jaune-sama, are you sure we should trust her?" Raphtalia lowered her voice a bit so only the three of us could hear. I'm guessing she wouldn't want the person in question to hear about our conversation.

"I'm as much skeptical as you are, Raphtalia. She's like a ninja. I can't believe that she was able to get behind us without alerting either you or Filo. She's gotta be really good to pull that off."

"...Especially when… she says that I have… something inside of me." Raphtalia had been awfully out of focus after speaking that. She wasn't even paying attention to the road!

"Raphtalia, I'm sure she was just over-exaggerating, there's nothing inside of you. Even if there was, how would that make you any different than you are now?" Raphtalia looked at me with widened eyes. That was soon changed into a warm smile.

"...Thank you, Jaune-sama."

"Ahem." Melty interrupted the conversation between us two by clearing her throat a bit. Looking across from me, I could see her eyebrow twitching a bit.

"Melty, i-is there something wrong?" The nervous tone of my voice was hinting that I wanted to know what was bothering her.

"It's nothing. The both of you having to fear of that Shadow. She has been with me ever since I left on my journey. She is basically my personal Shadow. We have no reason to not trust her word." As elegant as a princess should be, Melty explained that woman's situation for us in a second.

"Okay, Melty. If what you say is true, then I will trust her." While I do want to trust her, this uncertain feeling that I'm having when she said that 'something' was inside Raphtalia, starts to swell up.

"...I'll think about it." Raphtalia looked to be a bit uncertain as well. She doesn't want to approve the theory that there _could _be something inside of her that was causing us to just… transport between these two worlds.

"Raphtalia, is what she said worry you?" Raphtalia decided to not speak and nod her head.

"Raphtalia, remember what Sir Jaune said; even if you did have something inside of you, then would that make a different 'Raphtalia' than the one I know now?" Raphtalia only whispered to herself before speaking again.

"...No, I guess not." Finally speaking up, Raphtalia looked back to Melty and showed her a smile.

"...Raphtalia, never forget who you are. While we do not know of the unexpected, we shall not allow that to change the way we see our goals. We must prepare, and we must overcome. Sir Jaune is at your side, I am at your side, and Filo-chan is at your side. We will always be there for whatever happens to you." Melty's speech had made the both look at her with surprised looks.

"W-what?! Don't look at me like that! I was… 'in the moment', you know!" Melty's blushing face had caused a laugh to come past my mouth.

"...Thank you, Melty. I don't know what I'll do without any of you by my side. Thank you for everything that you've done for me."

"I should thank you, Raphtalia. The strength that you show when you need to protect everything dear to you makes me want to go out and become stronger. I'm… the second the princess and heir to the throne of Melromarc, so I have to be stronger! I'll become stronger to protect my people when they need me the most!" Melty's found a drive, I see. She has a heart. And with that heart, she should always take it to the start of everything that she wants to be accomplished. I have high hopes for you, Melty. Make everyone proud.

"And even you, Sir Jaune. Thank you for everything you've done for me."

"Huh? What did I do?" I pointed my face in confusion as I didn't understand what I did to make her feel that way.

"You should know very well, Sir Jaune! Ahem, while it wasn't just you, you were the first person to treat me as a… friend. Even if we hadn't met before at that time, you looked at me as if I was any other person that was just saying "hey" to a friend. Not only that, the way you strive to try to fight through the obstacles by planning ahead and putting your allies first, it makes my-no, let me start again. Because of you-" I raised my hand to stop her from talking. When she wanted to start over, I wanted to laugh.

"You don't have to, Melty. I understand how you feel. Even if you are a princess, you still have a personality that makes you unique like everyone else. You are like everyone else in the world but with just a higher status than everyone else. Besides, a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet, right?" A moment of silence had been heard before Raphtalia, Filo and Melty started laughing. My face started to feel a bit hot now.

"What? It's a good saying!"

"It's nothing, Sir Jaune. It only sounded a bit naive to me. While that can be true, I believe that everyone can become friends at a certain point in time. Then, we wouldn't have to worry about conflict, right?" I smiled after seeing Melty's soft smile.

"Master, let's become friends with everyone! Just like Melty-chan said!" Because of Filo was a bit excited, she caused the carriage to rock back-and-forth a bit. Raphtalia was soon able to stop Filo from moving around a bit.

"W-well, we can't be friends with _everyone_, Filo. There are some people that aren't good in the world."

"But Master~, didn't you say that strangers are friends that you haven't met yet? What if there are bad people that can turn into good people! I want to change bad people into good people!" Filo… where was this coming from? Oh well, she does have a point. We might encounter people who are bad and good. Who knows? We might be able to convert them into seeing the good in life.

"Well, let's just focus on the road, right Filo?" Raphtalia giggled.

"Before bad people, we gotta fight bad monsters! Let's go~!" Filo started to pick up her pace which caused chaos to ensure for the three of us.

"Filo, slow down!"

Seems like our time together is going to be a long time...

"Sir Jaune, look, there's a note saying that this carriage was going to be sent to you as a gift for saving you. Isn't that nice, Sir Jaune?"

I can only shake my head in disappointment right now...


	21. Am I Strong Yet?

**(A/N)**

**Sorry everyone for the late update. Recently, I just graduated High School and I wanted a short break from writing. Now, since I'm out of school, I'm going to have to learn how to manage my time with my fanfictions. That is all, I hope you all enjoy the story." **

Filo, take it out of the sky!"

"Okay, Master~!" Filo took her Filolial form and was already in her stance to take off into flight. Encountering a giant bat that soars through the sky that does nothing but shriek was getting annoying. We encountered some other beats that ranges from: Slimes, Red Balls, and Poison Bees. They weren't _that _hard to beat, but they were pretty simple to take down. It all required some brute force on our end to take them down.

"High Quick!" Filo instantly took to the skies with sound breaking speed. As she closed in on the bat, all it took was a simple kick to bring to the ground where we could finish it off.

"Here's some landing support, Filo! Air Strike Shield!" Placing a shield right under Filo, she landed on the shield and jumped into the sky so she could once again kick the bat that was busy crying in agony.

"Take this!" Extending her Filolial foot, she was ready for the landing blow until-

***Shriek!* **

"Filo-chan, watch out!" Melty was the first to warn the upcoming attack that was coming straight towards Filo. Because Filo didn't have the chance to maneuver out of the way in time, she took the hit.

"Gah!" Filo was sent flying away in the sky before she hit the ground with a loud thud. Crap, this doesn't look good right now.

"Filo, are you okay?!" I screamed, wondering to know if the hit she took was severe or not. We haven't been hit by the attack before so we don't know what time of damage it could do to someone.

"..." I couldn't hear Filo speak. Becoming slightly worried, I rushed over to her side.

"Raphtalia! Melty! You two handle that thing! I'll join up with you shortly!"

"Okay! Illusion Sword!" Raphtalia had used her Illusion Sword skill to damage the bat mentally so it doesn't move from where it was stuck at.

"You'll pay for what you did to Filo-chan! Zweite Aqua Slash!" Creating a blade from the base form of water, she sent it towards the giant bat's wing which was easily able to slice off with no problems.

As I rushed to Filo's side, I was able to see that she wasn't in her Filolial form anymore. Instead, she was in her human form where she was staring at me with concerned eyes. "Filo, what's wrong?" It was weird for her to not say anything. What did that bat do to her?

"...!" Filo opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She kept trying to speak but nothing came from out of her mouth. Opening the team menu, I looked to see Filo's name with a weird symbol right next to it.

_Silence: _

_Disables the user to use abilities for 10 minutes. _

_Cure: _

_Normal Anti-Silence Antidote_

The bat is able to conflict silence on the enemy… this isn't good. If we encounter them without having preparations at hand, then we might be screwed at a wrong time. We should probably a shop where we can find the antidote so we could counter these things with no trouble.

"Filo, we're going to have to-" Before I could finish my sentence, Filo hugged me. It wasn't that of a friendly hug; no, I felt her body shaking when her small form touched me.

Filo was scared because she didn't have her voice anymore…

"It's going to be okay," I patted Filo's head as I could see the form of tears about to come out from her eyes. "Don't worry, we can wait the 10 minutes, or we can find a potion. We'll be more prepared for this, don't worry. You did a good job, Filo." Filo wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and smiled happily. There you go, Filo.

"Now then, I'll go help with-"

"We're already done, Jaune-sama…" Raphtalia said as she looked at me with disappointing eyes. Wait, disappointing eyes? What did I do that would make her look at me like that?!

"Raphtalia… what's wrong?" Raphtalia continued to stare at me with that look for a couple of seconds.

"...Nothing." Raphtalia looked somewhere else after saying that.

"...Okay. Melty, Filo has been hit with Silence. We're going to have to wait 10 minutes for it to wear off, or we can just find a antidote so we could instantly get rid of the effect." Melty held a finger to her cheek as she starts to think about something.

"Is there a way to find a antidote? We can wait for the effect to wear off, but it would be wise to wait so long before night approaches. Monsters can become very ferocious at that time." Even if night approaches where the monsters can become stronger, we won't be able to see them without light support. And since we're down a member for the time being, we're going to have to keep going.

But-

"Filo, can you still go into your Filolial form?" Filo took a stance to try to get the Filolial form to come out, but nothing happened. Because that form might require magic, she won't be able to use that form until times up.

I guess this should be a good time to use the ability of the shield now…

"Excuse me, shadow lady!" As I yelled out into the forest for her to hear me, she instantly dropped in front of me, bowing and waiting for my response.

"Is there something you need, Shield Hero?" As mysterious as she was, she might have something that can help us with Filo. Since she's like an assassin, she might be more prepared than us in these situations.

"Yes, sorry for the inconvenience, but do you have any sort of antidotes on you?" If she has one, then this would be the perfect chance to use this shield ability.

"...Yes, here you go." The shadow lady have handed me a red potion that could be used for anything as a antidote. That's good then. Pouring the liquid onto the emerald on my shield, I waited for the menu screen to pop up in front of my face again.

_Anti-Bleed Potion: Cures Bleeding _

_Unlock: Antidote Series _

_Meeting the requirements of certain shield series enables the shield to produce the item that the Shield Hero requires. _

It worked! With these series, I'll be able to create potions instead of buying them! Well, maybe without buying them, but it makes it a whole lot more easier to create potions now. If I'm going to get stronger, then I'm going to absorb the monsters and items that I find around. Now would be the best time to start doing just that!

"Jaune-sama, did you find something?" I smiled at Raphtalia, which caused her to smile back at me.

"The antidote shield series was what I found. With this, I'll be able to cure Filo in no time!" Finding the Anti-Silence Shield, I looked at the requirements that would be needed in order to unlock the shield.

Well, looks like I'm in luck today…

"Raphtalia, can you please cut off a piece of the bat's wing for me?" Raphtalia complied as she took out her sword and sliced a small piece of the dead giant bat that they had killed earlier. Inserting it into my shield came another menu.

_Unlock: Silent Shield Series _

_Using the ability of this shield enables the user to silence the enemy of their abilities for 2 minutes. _

_Unlock: Anti-Silence Shield_

_Using the blood of the Silent Bat enables the user to produce potions to cure Silence. _

Two new shields at once, huh? Other than the Silent Shield, it's nice that I unlocked the Anti-Silence Shield. Right here, it says that I need the blood of the Silent Bat in order to use that shield ability. For better circumstances, we should probably suck the bat of its blood so we could stock up on that. But then again, where am I going to find containers for the bat's blood? Oh well, we'll worry about that later.

"Filo, here." As my shield changed into the form of a bat's wing, I created the Anti-Silence Potion, and gave it to Filo for her to drink.

"Fwahh~!" After drinking the potion, Filo happily threw the empty bottle away.

"I can speak again!" Filo exclaimed, happy for her voice to be heard in her own ears. Smiling, I patted her head again.

"Alright, we'll going to have to be more careful in these battles, right?" Filo nodded, along with everyone else.

"Good. Now then, I think we should… head a little backwards so I could get some more abilities with the enemies that we killed earlier." I scratched the back of my head a little because of my idiocy. I should've been started doing this a long time ago.

"No need, Shield Hero. While closing in on Faubley, we'll encounter even more of the monsters from earlier. We should not waste time before it is dark." The shadow lady pointed out. It made sense, we should probably continue on going ahead so we could reach Faubley then.

"Alright then. Sorry if I stop us on the way so I can get some more abilities." With that, we hopped on the carriage again and waited for Filo to start to move. Well, since we're about to reach Faubley, who knows what kind of enemy we'll face upon reaching there. All that's going to be needed is that I become stronger so we're prepared.

**(A/N) **

**Sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted to show that I'm not dead yet. Hope you all enjoyed!**


	22. Arriving At Faubley

**(A/N)**

**Hey, um… everyone. I want to get down to the basics of things and apologize to you all. I'm sorry that I haven't fully accepted the thoughts of other people when they appreciate or decline the progression of this story. I receive high praises and I don't even feel like I'm accepting them to the heart. I want to admit it, honestly, I'm scared of how far this story can go. Soon, as time progresses, many others will start to read this story, hoping that I will continue to write this story.**

**Praises…**

**Spiteful messages…**

**I fear them no matter how true they are to me. Maybe it's because I didn't have that many high hopes for this story, and I didn't think that people will actually like this story. They tell me how good this story is. They tell me how flawed this story is. And I have no other choice but to accept them. Why? It's because they see through this… writing of mine. They don't need to see the human that types behind the keyboard in order to understand what that person expresses. All in all, before now, I… let the amount of stares to get to me. And for that, I'm surrounded by all sorts of people.**

**120+ reviews, 300+ favorites, 400+ followers, and over 60 thousand people viewing…**

**To that, I can only look at the properties with sadness. I only wonder to myself if this was all real to begin with? From what was supposed to be a childish story, turned out to be my most viewed story.**

**I'm happy…**

**And I'm sad…**

**I don't think I've ever said to everyone that I truly appreciate what they've said to me. Maybe I was blinded by myself or idiocy. Well, now, I can truly say that I'm…**

**Grateful for everyone for being a part of this story…**

**If I haven't read the reviews for this story, I think would've given up on this story a long time ago. But now, as I'm typing this, it's hard to continue writing this without planning ahead, right? That only shows how much of a young writer I am.**

**Everyone… who even had the time to even read this… please, I want your help. If you can at least give me some ideas of where Jaune and the team can go, then I'll be satisfied. I'm… really tired of doing things on my own right now. Please, as much as I want to continue this story, I'm a bit in the dark right now.**

**And for the people who want to challenge me to stop writing this story, I can only say a few words to you…**

**Go ahead. If there's nothing stopping you to berate writers online, then go ahead. Nothing's going to stop me from continuing to write this story.**

**Have a great day everyone, and please…**

**Enjoy the chapter…**

**And I am not saying this in any sort of rude manner. Sorry, I was trying to act cool a bit and wanted to say that. All that I'm saying is that I'm open for any types of comments now. It makes me become a better writer...**

I'm… tired…

Had it been a few days since we started our journey to Faubley? Well, I can't even answer this question myself. We've been traveling, killing monsters, and repeating this cycle every now and then. Not once had I ever thought to myself if we're ever close to this Faubley place. The woman told us to continue going down the path, but I don't think we're going to find this place if there isn't light down the road.

As we continued to go deeper and deeper into the forest, I found ourselves to be higher levels now. We're in the low 30s, so I wouldn't be surprised if we've come out of this with different appearances. I must be getting too tired. My eyes are starting to get heavy now.

Honestly, I don't think we're going to make it out of this forest. We're almost out of food, and it's become extremely stressful for all of us to continue fighting off these monsters. Filo looked like she was on the verge of collapsing; it didn't matter if she's really energetic, one cannot stay awake this long without any form of being tired. Even if we're about to out of food, Filo's appetite is worse than ours.

Until… I noticed that we were out of the forest...

Heh, looks like we're going to be able to get out of here after all. All that's left is to find the queen, and go… on… another journey…

Isn't that great? After going from one place to another, we're going to have to go to another place. Well, doesn't that seem logical? Well, maybe not. When I get sleepy, I tend to say a lot of stupid things. It's almost as stupid as us hopping in and out of the carriage to find and kill some monsters. I was able to upgrade the shield a little, and I'm really proud of myself.

"Jaune-sama!" And that's the call that always makes me rush out without thinking straight. We have another monster to deal with, so it's time to fight again.

"All… right… let's hurry… up and kill some monsters." It was getting a bit too tiring to even speak right now. The monsters were coming, and being like this wasn't going to help.

"Sir Jaune, we made it out!" Melty's hyperactive cheer for a monster was starting to make me nervous. Why was she so happy to fight a monster?

"Wait, did you say that we made it out?" As the sun began to reach my eyes, I looked out to see the grassland that I ever-so desperate waited for. Well, if it wasn't the forest, I can only appreciate the grasslands for what it's worth.

Now, I feel something like a adrenaline start to course through my veins…

Looks like I'm up for a bit now.

"Fwaaa~! We finally get to find some good food!" Filo was ecstatic now that we were finally escaped through the forest. I, for one, am also happy that we were able to leave that place. I would second the thought of eating something that could be considered five star food in this place.

"So… this is Faubley?" Raphtalia's hair was flowing freely along with the wind. Looking at it, it seems to be some sort of… kingdom? Well, I can't really tell what kind of place this was because of the steampunked look it has. With all of the smoke coming from out of those factories, I wouldn't be surprised if this place was polluted.

"W-what's that smell?!" Raphtalia immediately covered her nose as she didn't know what she was beginning to smell. Oh right, the smoke from the factories...

"Raphtalia, the only thing I could say is that you're going to have to get used to it." Well, what a cruel world that Raphtalia lives in. I can't say anything because Remnant relied on factories as well.

"But… must this smell be so… nauseating?" Well, now, I can't tell if she's talking about the smoke, or litter that could be potentially on the floor in the city. If that's so, then the world's going to need an eye opener...

"Sorry, but we're going to have to get through this. We're just meeting up with the queen, and then we'll be on our way. Well, that is if we manage to stay in your world." It was still hard to comprehend the random world swap, but we must be on some sort of timer. Well, the timer that was displayed on my menu had went to zero and here we are.

"Sir Jaune, it's best we start leaving now."

"Yeah. Sorry for the hold up. Filo, let's start heading towards the kingdom!" As we were about to hop back into the carriage, the woman from earlier landed in front of me. If she's going to continue to do this up to the point where I might have a heart attack, then I don't think we should keep around.

"Shield Hero, Faubley's residents are… quite challenging, especially the king. It's best if you wore these for avoiding… trouble." Coming from out of her cloth, she held cloth with hoods that almost resembled hers.

"Um… where did you get those?" I couldn't help but ask. It's a question that's worth wondering about if she's going to continue to follow us. Hmm, she might be able to pop out with food without us realizing it, either…

"Please do not ask unnecessary questions. Now, put these on and we'll be on our way. As for your… Filolial friend, I suggest that she wear this as well. We do not want to be noticeable on our way to the queen." U-unnecessary questions? How could that be anything but unnecessary? Oh well, she does have a point. Having a big Filolial in the middle of the kingdom could cause some trouble.

"We're leaving the carriage?!" Filo was quick to start complaining about the plan. She's become attached to carrying the carriage, so taking it away from her could cause trouble on our end.

"Filo, don't be stingy. We're going to have to so we don't get caught." Raphtalia was the first to scold her so she wouldn't have to deal with Filo's complaining. Well, I wouldn't say that we shouldn't deal with it, but Filo's going to have to adjust to these sorts of things if we're going to make it through without being a huge target.

"Aw, but… carriage!" I chuckled a bit, because I found her reasoning to be plain and simple. Raphtalia looked like she was trying her best to hold her laugh, but she held it in.

"Filo, when we get back, there will be a bunch of carriages for you to lead. Let's just hurry and-"

"No! I want this carriage! Someone was nice enough to give us this carriage for all our hard work!" Coming out of her Filolial form, she hugged the carriage as it was her most prized possession.

"...But we kind of stole the carriage that was meant for us, right?" Melty… yes. Yes, we did.

"Please, Filo, we have to get moving. Just put on the cloth and we'll be on our way. I promise to find some carriages when we get back to Remnant." Um… were there any carriages in Remnant? I… haven't seen these things on the street that often so… yeah? I could be wrong, we're just going to have to look for some places with the right things.

"...Okay. If Master says there are, then let's hurry up!" Well… I don't want to say that it was easy, but…

"All right, put these on now." She gave us the cloth that we needed to put on so we could… sneak our way in? She was prepared, so she brought these cloths for all of us to have. We don't want to be noticed, but she never told us the reason to wear these. Was it because these people might hate the Shield Hero too?

"Um, excuse me?" The woman turned her head towards me as she wanted to hear my question. She was busy trying to put it on Filo, but Raphtalia stepped in to help her.

"Is there something wrong with it?" I shook my head, basically telling her that there was nothing wrong with the cloth.

"No, it was just that… why do we need to wear these?" The question had made her stand up. I couldn't exactly read her, but I could easily tell that she was serious.

"...The king who rules this kingdom is nothing but a pig. His sent out soldiers are for him nothing but pets for him to find worthy 'candidates' of his attention. These 'candidates' turned out to be women for his… needs." Oh. Oh boy. So basically, there is a pervert that rules this kingdom, huh? Well, if he even thinks about touching my friends… Faubley's people are going to miss the ruler, aren't they?

"...That explains the cloth being worn on the girls. Now, what does that have to do with me?" I wouldn't think that the king of this place has… that sort of mindset as well, but if he does, then I might need to be extra careful as well.

"The people of Faubley's belief of the heroes is to consider the heroes as existences close to God. Because of that, they marry the heroes; whether or not they are male or female. This was the reason as to why I want you to wear such clothing. It would be highly wise to cover the Legendary Shield so no one will notice it." Well, that's… a bit of a shock. They respect the heroes that much, that they want to marry them? Well, if it's forceful marriage, then what's the point of marriage, if there was no love?

"Thanks, I really appreciate what you've done for us. I'll… be sure to not be seen with the shield." To make sure that it wasn't easily seen, I moved most of the cloth over the shield. Now, this would be any man's dream, but for me, if there's no love, then there's no point of getting excited for something fake.

"Your very much welcome. Now, come and follow me so I can lead you to the queen's residence. Remember, make sure that you aren't seen." With that, she started to walk ahead of us.

"Jaune-sama, would you be disappointed if you were to marry someone because of your status?" Raphtalia asked me as she covered her head with the hood of the cloth. As we started to walk, I couldn't help but want to answer her question.

"Well, I guess I would. Based on what she said, just because you're became a hero, you basically have a free life ahead of you. You're basically God in their eyes. But… a free life like that isn't what I want." Raphtalia, and soon enough Melty stared at me with curiosity.

"Sir Jaune… what do you mean?" Melty's a princess, I remember that. She's the daughter of a king and queen of a kingdom so I wouldn't be surprised if I heard that Melty had a clean and chill life.

"Well… don't laugh at me because of my answer. To me, if you don't experience the hardships in life, then would you even consider that living? The pain of losing someone, the excitement from when you finally have the thing that you most wanted in life, the first fight that you lost, and meeting the love of your life, wouldn't that be considered as living? To just have everything in the palm of your hands without any hardships done, can you really be proud of yourself? Especially when you are to marry someone that you don't know or even love. Why would that even be considered as love? That's a fake life." My answer had made them quiet.

They didn't say anything as they understood that they had lived different experiences in life. Who could blame them…?

Raphtalia… she was born in a village that had been destroyed by a wave of monsters where she lost her parents in the process…

Melty… a princess who was born into wealth…

And then there's me… someone who was constantly behind his family's shadow as they were the ones who risked their lives for the sake of others. With all of the praises that my family receives, not once had I ever heard my name…

That's because I wasn't the one who was out there to protect others…

Until… it came to the day where I wanted my name to be called by hundreds and even thousands of people. My parents… tried their best to help me the best I ever could. But then, I saw little to no progress in my swordsmanship. Even still, I didn't give up. Even my parents didn't give up on me.

Until… I decided that it was hopeless for me. Back then, I thought that it was my parents guidance that had made me progress slowly. I… thought that it was my family who was holding me back. And so, I stumbled upon false transcripts and I used them to get into Beacon. After the initiation… I noticed that it was _myself _who was letting me down. I wanted to change, I wanted to make sure that under those false words, was someone who could redeem himself as a warrior and a hero. I started to improve under Pyrrha's help, and I started to stop thinking that I was hopeless. I was living a huntsman's life…

But it didn't last long...

I-no, I shouldn't think of the past right now. What's best is that I continue to look forward. It was only one direction that I always wanted to follow. With everything I've experienced, it's nothing compared to what Raphtalia or Melty has experienced.

Now, I can only wonder what's going on through their heads…

What does a hero mean to them…?

For now, I have to use this shield that was granted to me, and protect everyone that's in need of help. That's what heroes are for, aren't they?


	23. I'm sorry everyone

**(A/N) **

**I'm… sorry everyone. I… did the best I could with this story, and I'm not feeling the same… experience that I had when I started out this story. To be honest, yes, this story was… random as all ever. I… wish I could change this story into something better, but I couldn't do anything but stare at the problems that I have with this story. Because I see the multiple problems in this story, I… have no other choice but to… give up on it. **

**Well… not exactly. Yes, I could see the problems in this story, but there's one solution I could come up with to resolve this… issue I'm facing: **

**Rewriting the story completely.**

**Now, I know how everyone is going to react and to be honest, I deserve it. But now, I'm going into this rewritten story with nothing but planning ahead this time. I know about the reviews, favorites, and followers I have for this story, and I truly appreciate it. Never had I seen this many people want to see this story want to be continued for the hell of it. Sure, it was random, but people wanted to continue seeing it. Now, I want to make sure that I can 'fix' this story by rewriting it into something better. **

**This time… I hope I can create something more worthwhile for everyone to enjoy…**

**The story is about to be published as I had been thinking of the first chapter for a long time.**

**Have a good day everyone. And I hope that everyone who supported this story will come to the rewritten version, and enjoy it. **


End file.
